#I think that's fully a scene that got left out and truly. it's a shame

[bougiebutchbitch]

There is something so special about A-Train and Deep getting into their bitch-on-bitch violence slapfight in the middle of a Vought corridor, both ending up gasping on the floor, and then Homelander striding up all cool like 'boys boys boys....'

....and walking straight past A-Train to help Deep up of course, to rub in the favouritism juuuuust a bit more <3

[whateverloomis]

Scream meets X" || Billy Loomis x Stu Macher x GN!AFAB reader 🔪🔞

PART 4

As requested, part 3! Any suggestions are welcome. My ask box is open!

Warnings: 3some, ffm, AFAB reader (no pronouns used,) oral (male receiving,) scratching (once,) pre-determined clothes, voyeurism, Billy is grumpy (lol,) unedited

Once you walked outside you crashed into Stu's lean figure; "You guys had fun in there?" he asked, sticking his tongue out at you and you sighed; "Not now Stu, Tatum saw the creepy old lady too. She was standing outside the window, staring at us!" You nearly shouted and Billy walked towards you quickly; "Hey, what's going on baby?" he asked, concerned; "Tatum and I saw..." You trailed off, tears escaping your eyes.

Something didn't feel right since the moment you set foot in that cabin and Billy quickly caught on to your concern. "C'mon, let's go'" Billy whispered and glared at Stu before walking you into the bedroom.

"What did I do?!" Stu shouted and scoffed, walking into his own room.

In your room, Billy sat down with you on the edge of the bed and cupped your cheek with his left hand; "Talk to me baby, what's going on? You've been on edge since we got here," he spoke softly and you sighed, closing your eyes to try and make sense of your thoughts and feelings; "I don't know, Billy. Things have been strange since day one. First the owner being hostile and nearly killing Stu, then his sudden change of mind..." you trailed off and Billy scanned your face.

"Nothing bad happened, okay? We just had a talk with him. Straightened some things up, that's a-" - "Did you threaten him?" You interrupted and Billy went quiet. He grabbed your hand and looked into your eyes; "We did what had to be done-" - "Billy! Stop avoiding the question! You threatened him, didn't you?" You interrupted once again and Billy sighed; "I wouldn't necessarily say threatened. It was more like a warning, really..." he explained, but you knew him better than that. You knew he manipulated that old fuck and threatened his life in order to get what he wanted. What you wanted. He did it for you but you had a feeling that the lady stalker was a consequence of whatever he and Stu said or did.

"Billy... Did you know about... The owners wife, I assume?" You asked. You were testing him and his trust. You needed to know if he truly cared about your safety; "...Yes. I did." Billy answered and looked down in slight shame. You cupped his face and looked him straight in the eyes. He might've lied then, but you understood why. He was trying to protect you.

"Look, it wasn't a big deal ok? We got what we wanted and now you're going to be a hit baby. You're it." He told you and placed his hand on your thigh, rubbing up and down.

You couldn't help but reveal a subtle smile. Billy was selfish, but he was selfish for you. You fed from his attention and praise. He loved getting his way while keeping you happy. It was a perfectly fucked up mix of emotions that kept you together.

"Do you think Tatum's okay?" You asked, concern lacing your voice. Billy didn't care much about the girl but he knew Stu would comfort her in his own moronic way.

"I'm sure she's fine, baby. Stop worrying so much, okay? I'm right here." Billy reassured and you visibly relaxed.

"You did so good for me today, hm?" The boy said and pulled you towards him so you could straddle his lap.

"You think so?" You asked teasingly.

"Oh, I know so. Wait until you see yourself," Billy said and squeezed your sides, his cock half hard between your legs just by thinking about your scene.

You smirked and started to grind against his length, it getting fully hard and stimulating your clit perfectly. Moaning at the feeling, you pulled Billy's hair and crashed your lips against his. He placed his hands on your ass and moved your hips against his quicker.

"Fuck... I need to taste you." Your lover said as he laid you on the bed and kneeled down in front of the edge, placing your legs over his shoulders. He teased your pussy by licking your lips softly at first and slowly making his way to your center.

He sucked on your clit very softly but just enough to send a bolt of pleasure up your body. You loved the way he took his time with you while eating you out. His soft movements and teasing drove you mad and he wasn't even getting started.

Billy rested his head against your inner thigh, giving him the perfect angle to lick a stripe up your most sensitive spot. You moaned at his actions and ran your hands through his hair. As he licked at sucked you throbbed uncontrollably and he couldn't help but chuckle against you.

"Ugh, you're such a tease," you moaned out and he pulled back, looking at you from between your legs and smirking. He said nothing and you knew he was going to keep devouring you all night if you let him. And that he did.

•

You woke you from a small ray of light hitting your face. The day was beautiful. Clear blue skies and barely any clouds in sight.

Billy was spooning you, you could feel the soft rise and fall of his chest with every breath he took. You didn't want to get out of bed. The peacefulness was all you needed after last night's stress.

You closed your eyes and smiled softly, enjoying every second of the moment before you heard the door open slowly and felt the bed dip behind you.

It was Stu.

He came over to wake you guys up, and he obviously chose the most obnoxious way to do so.

Stu laid down behind Billy and spooned him. He brushed his friends hair behind his ear and whispered; "Rise and shine Billy boy."

You turned around to look at Stu who had the biggest grin on his face.

Billy opened his eyes, instant annoyance taking over him before he pushed Stu off the bed; "Fuck off asshole," he said and turned around, pulling you towards him once again, snuggling with you.

You giggled at their interaction and wiggled against Billy.

Tatum laid next to you a few seconds later and played with your hair; "C'mon babe, we have a scene to shoot later."

You looked at her in confusion; "You and me?," you asked and she nodded; "And Billy too. Stu wants to do some double blowjob action."

You gasped and craned your neck, locking eyes with Stu. You told him it would be fun to do a scene like that but you didn't think he'd actually go through with it.

"Hell yeah I do, I bet our Billy over here isn't going to mind," Stu said while sticking his tongue out.

Billy might've had his eyes closed but he was half awake and able to hear everything you guys were saying. Stu was already getting on his nerves. The boy threw his pillow at Stu and the blonde ran out of the room giggling like a little girl.

"Ugh, he's so annoying," Tatum said, followed by a smile; "Go get pretty, we're starting in a few hours," she continued and left your room, allowing you and Billy to wake up without anymore interruptions.

•

After midday and discussing what the scene would consist of, everything was set up in the living room space. You were wearing a similar farm girl style dress with Tatum. The skirts barely covered your ass and you and your best friends tits were threatening to rip the buttons of your dress open because of the tight fit.

Billy was sitting on the couch feeling a bit more excited than he thought he'd be, but of course he wasn't gonna let it show so he had a straight face while Stu explained to Randy how he wanted the camera to be angled.

The boys ended up arguing like two idiots about it and Tatum was starting to get impatient; "Guys, get on with it! My tits can't breathe over here!," She complained and Randy rolled his eyes.

"Stu, it's literally fine let's just film this shit already!," Randy argued and Stu sighed; "Fine! If this movie doesn't win an Oscar it's your fault," the boy said and Billy chuckled, disbelief written all over his face. His friend was being delusional with this whole thing at this point.

"Okay, let's do this!," Stu yelled and clapped his hands, making everyone jump at the sudden sound; "Action!"

The camera started rolling and you crawled on the couch from the right next to Billy, kissing his neck softly. You knew that was one of his weak spots and his cock started to get hard instantly.

Tatum crawled next to him from the left and started to rub him over his jeans while you kissed your way to his lips, making out slowly.

You played with each others tongues and moaned softly. His cock was growing impossibly hard and he was starting to get impatient.

Billy ran his hand through Tatum's hair which surprised her, but she didn't break character. He pulled her hair enough to lead her between his legs. The girl smirked in disbelief and started to unbutton your lovers jeans.

You gave Billy one last kiss before sliding down between his legs next to Tatum and helped her finish pulling his pants down to reveal his rock hard cock.

Both of you gasped in unison at the sight.

You took the lead and licked a stripe up his length, kissing the tip softly.

Billy threw his head back and hissed. He was really sensitive and desperate to feel his cock getting sucked and licked by two people. Greedy as ever.

You grabbed his length after teasing him and started to stroke him.

Tatum kissed your cheek to signal you that she was ready to feel your lips against hers. Without hesitating you made out with her. Both of you exaggerated your moans and whines for the camera and started to play with each others tits.

Randy couldn't believe he was experiencing this. He couldn't help but get hard at the sight and whisper; "fuck" once you and Tatum started to continue making out with Billy's cock between yours and her lips.

Billy had his hands between yours and Tatum's hair, but he was focusing on you the whole time.

You looked so fucking gorgeous with his cock pressed against your lips. The way you shared him fed his ego and he loved every second of it. The way you made out with your friend like that around him was pure bliss and he couldn't get enough of your tongue brushing against his length expertly.

You looked like a total slut and felt like one too. You took pride in it, enjoyed every second of sharing his dick like you were, yet it felt like an experience only both of you shared. Selfish as ever.

Billy wasn't going to last any longer with both you and Tatum working magic on his cock and you knew as much, so you placed your hand on one of his thighs and scratched down the flesh to elicit more pleasure from the pain you were inflicting.

"Fuck, baby..." He whispered for you only.

You locked eyes with him and smirked while you licked his length and that just about did it for him.

You and Tatum opened your mouths for Billy and he came all over your faces. You two looked so pretty giggling and sticking your tongues out to collect his seed.

"And that's a wrap!" Stu said and sighed; "That was incredibly hot. I nearly jizzed my pants just looking at ya," he continued and earned glares and smirks from all of you.

Randy locked himself in the bathroom, having to take care of himself and you felt incredible with your work.

•

After a very long shower and dinner you were walking outside admiring the sunset. The orange and pink clouds combined with the dark blue sky. The cool wind brushed against your skin and you felt relaxed.

As you walked along the field the main house of the farm caught your attention.

Curiosity took the best of you and you walked over, circling the structure before climbing up the front porch. The door was open and you peeked inside to see if anyone was home.

Since nobody was in sight you stepped inside and looked at all the old photos lining the wall all the way up the stairs. There was a young couple in most of them, you assumed it was the owner and his wife.

It seemed like the woman was a dancer or some kind of performer. She was very beautiful with her long flowy dresses and brunette hair.

You continued to admire the pictures when all of a sudden you saw a shadow behind you. It startled you and made you turn around quickly, and there she was. The old lady. She had white hair that looked like it was going to fall off her head any second. Her skin was extremely wrinkled and she wore a pink house dress.

"Lemonade?," she said slowly and you nodded, following the woman into the kitchen.

As she poured the juice into the glass it elicited a refreshing sound that made your mouth water. You sat down and drank the whole thing in one go.

"Good?," the lady asked and you nodded, observing her quietly for what seemed like minutes.

"Well, I should go... Thanks for the lemonade," you said as you stood up from the chair and walked towards the door slowly.

The whole exchange was quick yet it seemed like it all happened in slow motion. Something was definitely off but you couldn't quite grasp what it was.

As you approached the front door you felt the lady grab your hand.

You turned around, confusion and slight disgust showing on your face; "He'll kill you first," the woman said and you removed your hand from hers quickly.

"W-What?," you asked, not sure if you heard her right.

"He'll kill you first," she repeated herself and you gasped in fear as the lady grabbed your hand again with force.

"Let me go!," you screamed and ran out of the house as quickly as you could.

As you were approaching the cabin you were staying in you crashed into someone. They steadied you and when you looked up it was Billy. Randy and Stu were looking for you along with him; "Where the fuck were you?!," Billy screamed and all you could do was hold onto him and cry.

"C'mon," he said and pulled you inside the cabin, walking into your room and closing the door behind him.

"YN, what the fuck was that?!," he questioned and you sobbed.

Billy closed his eyes and sighed, calming himself down just enough to hug you and comfort you.

"She... She said he'll kill me first," you managed to say and Billy pulled back, a confused expression on his face.

"What? Who said that?," he asked while studying your face.

"The old lady."

[starvels]

not-6-sentence not-sunday

got tagged some days ago by lena @welcomingdisaster for 6 sentence day! in lena's spirit, i'm also going to cheat a wee bit and post a larger bit of a scene, because it's nice and i'm proud of it!

so, behold! a snippet from!

hell is nothing but a headspace (aka priest kink fic. aka gun kink fic)

--

“Well, well. I’ll be goshdarned,” Tony’s voice says from behind him, “lookie what we wrangled here.”

“That,” Steve says, not looking around, “is the worst southern accent I’ve ever heard.”

He slants his eyes to his left and he can see Tony in the reflection of the pristine glass, his eyes picking out the details in the glow of the room.

Tony stands just inside the entryway, a whiskey in his hand, hoisted in a toast. He is indeed dressed to the nines in a leather get-up. Gliding forward in his boots and his jeans and chaps, Tony sips the whiskey and eyes Steve like he’s approaching the dessert table. He is wearing a gun, Steve spies as he moves. A shoulder holster, not on his firm thigh like Steve imagined. The look is still good. Steve imagines now, the strap of it across Tony’s nice shoulder blades. A fringed leather jacket in deep maroon that looks splendidly tailored sits over a pressed cream shirt with big metal buttons, down to, indeed, a big metal belt buckle in the shape of — America. Steve turns his head around finally, in order to give Tony an unimpressed look. Tony grins widely, unabashed.

“Nah,” Tony goes on, “jus wait till I get to talking about —“

“No,” Steve says and then turns around fully, “I don’t think I’ll wait for that at all.”

“Shame,” Tony says and backtracks in the room to find the light switch on the walls.

The lights come on in a wave of warm fluorescents that turn the suite into an overexposed target.

“Is that nec —“

“Oh, you are in a priest’s outfit. Thought my eyes were playing tricks on me,” Tony’s voice drips into a syrupy exaggerated drawl as he walks back towards Steve. His eyebrows rise on his forehead. “My, my,” Tony presses the glass of whiskey to his mouth but doesn’t drink from it, simply stares at Steve.

“I’m in a priest’s habit, yes. But not for the party.”

Tony’s eyebrows rise further and he takes a long drink of whiskey, the apple of his throat working in a bob before he says, “Steve, I never thought we’d reach the day when you suggest a roleplay kink scene before me. Truly, I am —“

“That is not what this is about.”

--

hell is nothing but a headspace will start posting weekly on october 8th as a nice kinktober/halloween treat to us all! 😈🔥 i hope you all enjoyyy.

this was really fun! so i'm no pressure tagging: @alexenglish @hungerpunch @dirigibleplumbing @oluka @cowboyhorsegirl @blossomsinthemist @viudanegraaa @kiyaar @the-faultofdaedalus @thahiree and anyone else who is interested in sharing some nice longer snippets of their WIP 👀💖

[avhies20]

Since the year is ending, I'd like to talk about my top 5 favorite shows of this year. There's a lot of really good show releases this year, but these are the ones that I personally loved. [Alt text are available in the images]

5. Interview with the Vampire

This is such a good adaptation. The writing, production, and casting is phenomenal. Also, I'd like to say props to them for acknowledging the issues Louis would have experienced during that time period. It brought so much depth to the character. I also love how Claudia came into the picture. That was a change that I personally loved more than the book version. The performance of Bailey Bass as Claudia made it even better. I think her episode was my favorite. It really showed how disturbing and tragic her situation was. I'd also like to appreciate Sam Reid and Jacob Anderson's electrifying chemistry together. Both of them made Louis and Lestat's story more interesting for me.

Lastly, I am beyond happy that they made this show so gay. Like they fully embraced it, without shame. I love this show for it.

4.1899

As a long time Dark fan, I was so excited for this show. Although I admit, I wanted more from it. Still I enjoyed watching this season and I truly believe that things would get even better once we get to the next season (if there is one 👀).

What I loved the most from this is the fact that the characters are speaking in different languages and are from different countries. Like they really spoke their native languages instead of making them just speak in english with foreign accents. Because of that we got to see the characters navigate their way through the language barriers and build meaningful connections.

Now I'd like to talk about what distracted me the most... Eyk and Maura's chemistry. There's just something about them that I really really dig (Angst? Longing? Them being so touchy together? All of the above?). Although, I'd like to say I still like Daniel. I feel like the whole story behind him would be heart breaking.

3.The Sandman

This was my most anticipated show for August, it was like an early birthday present for me. I truly enjoyed this show, especially Tom Sturridge's performance as poor little meow meow, baby girl, blorbo Morpheous. The way he made his eyes teary-eyed all the time is such a perfect acting choice. Kirby Howell-Baptiste also delivered as the lovely Death. She really made the character as loving and caring as possible. Watching her sibling dynamic with Sturridge as Dream is all I've ever wished for. Mason Alexander Park of course brought Desire truly come to life in this adaptation. I hope we get to see more of their performance next season.

My favorite episode would probably be episode 4 to 6. Those three episodes are a package deal considering the themes that they handled. Also, I'd like to acknowledge the wonderful surprise episode 11. I am totally in love with how they gracefully and respectfully they handled Calliope's story. They gave her agency and respected her as an actual character. I also loved the short interactions she had with Morpheus, especially the "you came" ...."you called" scene, that was so jdkfjeifjbcisibsjsjk ( I can't describe what I felt but I was a mess when that scene came up).

2.Severance

Wow, this show was a last minute watch for me and it was so good it made my top 5. This show had such a good mix of mystery, sci-fi, tension, drama, and a little bit of comedy. I also did not expect to love the characters of this show. Each of the characters had something equally interesting going on, it wasn't just the protagonist who had something to do. Honestly, I'm surprised with how well they fleshed out the characters, even though they're still in season 1.

What really cemented this show in my top 5 is its finale. My gosh, it was so thrilling and suspenseful. I also think that this show's finale is an example of a cliff hanger done right. They answered some questions, left out some unanswered ones, and ended the finale with a bang (not an action packed scene, but enough to make you stand up the couch and scream "NO! that's it!?).

I think this show has a potential to be one of the best sci-fi tv series of all time if they do it right until the end.

1.Andor

This year I thought my top favorite show would be The Sandman, but Andor came in and landed right at the top. I'm not even a Star Wars fan, just a casual viewer, but this show was excellent in a lot of ways. This show at its core, is a well-done spy thriller set in space. It's got 12 episodes with 4 different arcs that truly delivered. This show also managed to tackle social and political issues of today, with such care.

This show also had incredible production, writing, direction, set design, vfx, editing , and the soundtrack is *chef's kiss*. It is such a high quality show. I hope they get a lot of praise and awards because this show really deserves it. Also, this show is so quotable. I can't even pick a favorite because they're just so many.

Lastly, I'd like to talk about Cassian's development here because the finale came full circle. Episode 1 Cassian and Episode 12 Cassian had such a stark difference. I cannot wait where his arc is going in the next season. I hope we get to see something about his sister, because I want something happy for him at least.

[tenuuchlegch]

         The morning sun was peaking over horizon line, as F’lhaminn poured out her heart to Warburton and Minfilia... or what remained of them. Skies turning a pinkish color over camp Drybone, a falcon cried overhead with wings spread wide soaring into unknown territories. The crystalized aether from shard of Dalamud also began gleaming in the distance, like fire being ignited. How ironic, that the atmosphere would display as such a tranquil scene befitting the one two women were honoring. Truly, it was as if Hydaelyn herself had gone out of her way to ensure this moment’s absolute serenity. Au ra was certain the former leader of Scions would have very much enjoyed it.  

         While Odtsetseg could not boast of knowing the hyur on a level other Scions did, when miqo’te approached her regarding letter which involved group’s former leader she was compelled to escort retired songstress. This was not completely for her sake, but so they both could receive some closure regarding their now long departed friend and kin. Minfilia... or rather Ascilia was a good woman, whose munificence and compassion towards her fellow man inspired or spurred others forward. Xaela would know, for she was one of them. Yet despite all the good that she accomplished, warrior of light’s fellow Echo user never got a proper burial, for there was no body to be found. It was a shame, that none of them had gotten around to doing so until now. She was a light in the darkness, who ignited the flame others may shoulder after all. 

        Odtsetseg hoped she would be one day worthy of such steadfast faith.

         F’lhaminn’s query of what she would say, snapped xaela out from her thoughts. Blinking, typically laconic adventurer briefly found herself at a loss for words. In truth, a part of Odtsetseg half expected miqo’te to simply say her piece, thank au ra then leave. That is what sometimes occurred, amidst circumstances such as this one. Besides what could she, someone who was only a brief part of Minfilia’s life possibly have to say which was not uttered already? But auri had to say her piece, didn’t she? Even if their time together was short, she worked in close liaison with the blond-haired woman. It would be wrong, to maintain her silence now. Additionally, there was a lot left unsaid. 

         Turning to the grave fully after a moment, Odtsetseg breathed in, placed one knee on ground and spoke. 

         “Hello, Minfilia... or should I call you Ascilia now? Whatever the case, I think I will go with the former, if you do not mind.” There came a pause, as eyes closed and head lowered in a shamed fashion. “I never got the chance to tell you this, but when I came to you and the Scions... I had nothing. I had lost my home- my tribe. All the traditions I grew up with were squashed, then scatted to the four winds and every member of my family was either gone or lost touch with me long ago. Needless to say, it would be no exaggeration that I was lost, bitter and... broken. I helped people yes, but I cannot claim that it was from a pure desire such as yours. To be frank, I cared very little for people- I was terrified to. It lead to attachment, I surmised and attachment would only lead towards heartache.” A sigh escaped lungs, as she lifted hues to look upon the grave again; soft smile returning.

          “Yet, in spite of my stubbornness you and the others still kept me by your sides. You treated me as one of your own, despite our very different backgrounds and the fact that our cultures often clashed with one another. Though I did not see it at first, I now am aware that you and the others became like family to me, through our journey. ... Apologies for trying to start our friendship out with a blood pact, by the way. I realize now that was plausibly quite intense to witness.” A noise which hinted at surprise was heard behind her (likely from F’lhaminn), but Odtsetseg paid no mind to it and continued.

         “Either way, I can assure you that your legacy will live on. I may not be the warrior of light you were acquainted with all those years ago, but... let there be no doubt that I will make strides to be the person you believed me to be. Thancred and the others will do their best too, I am certain. With that being said, I hope this gives both you and your father reassurance that you can finally rest.” 

         When all the Scions returned safely to the source, Odtsetseg would ensure that this place be made known towards them. It would not be fair of her to keep such information for herself. Besides, if they all were made aware entire group could visit her to honor the generous woman’s memory. 

[jeanmoreaux]

atlas complex anon logging on for the last time

i finished it like two days ago and i have been trying to process it and i truly just….don’t know what to do with it 😵‍💫

the other death was SO PAINFUL ACTUALLY and i am choosing to believe it didn’t happen (bc objectively it didn’t! if you think about it!!! *eye twitch*) — bc why would you write such a lovely passage A LOVE CONFESSION IF YOU WILL and then fucking MURDER HIM…AND THEN YOU DONT EVEN TELL US PLAINLY WHAT HAPPENED (again, i choose to believe he lives on, mr security camera man)

tbh both of those deaths confessed their love and then she was like “that’s nice please drop dead xoxo”

(me trying to be vague about spoilers but also who fuckin cares nobody is reading this book)

anyway here’s the deal. i think it was all bad writing but i got so lost in the sauce in the last 15% that i could convince myself that i Appreciate the Ending?? like sorry i just am stuck on IN EVERY CULTURE THERE IS BREAD…but also what the hell even happened in this book and why was it even more convoluted than it needed to be

need olivie blake to pay for my therapy

so excited to hear from you!!! yeah, that second death. OOF. literally hated it. and right after that wendy cope esque love confession SOBBING FR. he has been my bestie from day one and he will remain so forever. i love him!! and it wasn’t that his death didn’t hit me, but it hit me because i Did Not Want Him To Die and not because the death was written well and executed well narratively speaking. ngl i read it and was like. this is so stupid. why like this?? after all the build up why at all but WHY LIKE THIS. also yeah the crumbs with the scenarios and security camera make for a range of possibilities of what *actually* happened but i have to say it felt a little cheap to me. like blake could not decide one way or the other and instead just kept all the options open which felt very unsatisfying to me. the entire thing is similar to what blake did with gideon’s last pov chapter (and both together exemplify my issue with the ending): keeping options open and lines blurry so that you can headcanon you own way out of the mess she made. which is not the great move she might think it is because instead of writing a scenes where she can actually evokes emotions because she commits to a thing completely and unequivocally it’s all so vague that the reader is never made to fully grapple with one outcome or the other. you’re left in limbo and that’s why you feel so disconnected from everything happening (at least that’s how it was for me). i love open endings but what she did wasn’t an open ending (given that it’s the last 30% of the book lmao) but a lack of narrative commitment.

i am so glad you appreciate the ending!! wish that were me!!!! i would so love to mske my peace with it but i Can’t. these characters deserve better. i read the last two chapters and just thought ‘that was it? wow. i feel absolutely nothing. what a shame.’ tho i agree the bread line being a banger. it is Very good. and that’s the thing there are some good parts and lovely sentences and sentiments (the love confession you mentioned might be one of my favourite passages of the entire series!!) but as a whole tac simply did not deliver in a way that makes the last chapter or the ending in general hit for me. idk it’s nicely written but the emotional impact is minimal because the narration did nothing to build up to it in a meaningful and nuanced way???? like i get it and i understand it and i like it out of context but it has no impact IN context because the story preceding it doesn’t warrant it. or maybe i am just too bitter to see it lol. veryyy real possibility.

also you are so right what even happened in this book??? sooooo convoluted. instead of paying for my therapy i want blake to rewrite the book istg like pls i am begging on my knees.

((also this answer is veryyyy vaguely worded too. but i am sure you Get It.))

[epicene-humanoid]

some trans Jeff thoughts:

he realized he was trans in elementary school and just went fuck it I'll just start introducing myself as Jeffery and see if anyone decides to stop me (as we know, jeff winger can get away with almost anything)

he got top surgery the second he could afford it (around the same time he started at his law firm), and probably bribed someone to keep it a secret

"I'm jeff winger and i would rather look at myself naked than the women I sleep with" are the words of a man proud of his transition

he's really insecure about his fashion sense, which is why he mostly dresses like the douchey guys at his firm in the start of the show, he thought you can't go wrong with the sleazy lawyer look

he will never admit it but he feels super good about the dean hitting on him, because the dean is a (cis) guy, acknowledging that Jeff is more manly than him

i think he starts out stealth and comes out to everyone one by one, probably starting with abed because he knows abed won't judge him and will probably just see it as an interesting backstory.

abed just says it's cool and maybe worth a prequel exploring Jeff's transition, and jeff asks him to predict how all of the members of the group will react to him coming out.

abed's predictions:

britta will be over-the-top supportive and do a ton of research about trans history, probably put together a slideshow just to prove how progressive she is, and jeff will be a little bit weirded out, but also touched that she did all that for him, though he would never let her know that

shirley will be confused, because she doesn't know how someone she trusts and knows so well could be part of a group she was raised to hate, but ultimately realizes that there's nothing actually against the lgbtq people in the bible, and, as a cool character development arch, starts to advocate against use of the bible to justify bigotry

troy will just think it over and decide that Jeff's physique and coolness are even awesomer knowing how much work he'd had to put in to be like that, and respects Jeff's manliness even more

annie will give him a hug, say something sweet about how she'll always love him, and worry about his health, because even she read somewhere that taking testosterone makes you more likely to have a heart attack, jeff will explain that the risk is still only as high a cis guy, and she'll be the one to always remind him to take his shots

peirce will say at best say "jeff winger used to be a chick?" and at worst call him a slur, either way there's sure to be a lot of misgendering from him, and pestering to know Jeff's deadname (needless to say, Jeff just doesn't tell peirce)

the whole group goes out of their way to keep their beach trips a secret from pierce (the girls don't want him there anyways, he's too liable to be creepy) even though jeff knows that even if pierce saw his scars, all he would have to do is make up a story about some childhood accident and pierce would never question it

sorry this ended up being super long. can I hear some of your headcanons for him?

YES ALL THIS!!! yes yes i’m fully accepting this as canon oh my god

i’m about to type a whole ass ESSAY at midnight because i have been DYING to talk about this for months ajfdksljk,,, this is going to be obscenely long and i might end up adding even more to it as i continue to rewatch the show because there is truly no shortage of trans jeff content (especially when you’re trans and see transness in every little thing ajdkslfkjs)

spoiler warning for literally everything about this show under the cut <3

i 100% agree, i feel like he realized he was trans super young, especially since in the show we see him as a little kid a couple of times. 

like look at little jeff with the oversized sweatshirt and little ponytail!! that’s childhood trans fashion. not to be dramatic but part of me thinks that jeff’s dad left before he fully came out to his family (which gives him even more angst about it, because until that one Thanksgiving episode, he’s never able to prove to his dad that he’s a better man), but part of me thinks that his dad left after he came out (which adds that spicy i-should-have-stayed-in-the-closet guilt that he has to work through). 

either way, because his dad wasn’t there, he had to base his concept of masculinity on something else, which was becoming a lawyer!! there’s some line that’s like “after the dust and divorce papers were settled the only man i looked up to was [the lawyer guy]”. like, replacing your father figure in your mind with the concept of “a job where you can talk your way in and out of anything and distort other people’s concept of reality”? that’s trans.

 and the fucking THANKSGIVING EPISODE... i struggle to watch it without crying hehe <3 yeowch! the dichotomy of willy jr. being the “wrong” kind of man because he’s “too soft” but jeff also not being enough despite adhering to all the social standards of masculinity... fuck!! this whole scene of him telling his dad “i am Not well adjusted” and talking about how he gave himself an “appendix surgery scar” when he was a kid and he still keeps the get-well-soon letters from his classmates under his bed? oh my god. the implication of people loving him not despite his scars but because of them?? trans. i can’t think about this episode for too long or i’ll start yelling.

OH and this scene? where he talks about how his mom got him a girl costume for halloween?? and everyone said “what a cute little girl” and after a few houses he stopped correcting them?? and “once the shame and the fear wore off, i was just glad they thought i was pretty”?? THAT’S TRANS... the man needs validation oh my god... and then in all the halloween episodes we see he has these ultra-masculine costumes (a cowboy, David Beckham, one of the fast and furious guys even though he never watched the movies, a boxer with his DAD’S boxing gloves... god) costumes are about becoming something else and he always chooses to be hypermasculine and that is trans.

THE PHYSICAL EDUCATION EPISODE!!!!!!! being uncomfortable during P.E. is a queer experience. period. but him being specifically uncomfortable in the clothes someone else is assigning to him? trans. “are we gonna talk about clothes like a girl? or use tapered sticks to hit balls around a cushioned mat like a man?” TRANS. and him eventually stripping in public? celebration of transness. and the fact that he eventually becomes comfortable in both the uniform and his own style!! trans!! god i love this episode. 

AND AND AND!!! the gay dean coming out episode!!! where it’s the three of them discussing the best way for the dean to come out as gay despite not entirely identifying with that label!! so we have both frankie and the dean who are sort of ambiguously queer, and jeff who’s a stealth trans man who’s probably only out to only the study group at this point. this scene where the dean and jeff have this like eyebrow communication while frankie is talking is just so cute. queer-to-queer communication. “I am so curious” “oh?” “intellectually.” “oh...” ajfdksljfk this scene just screams high school GSA to me and i love it so much.

and SPEAKING of the dean!! i totally see you on that. i feel like jeff has some internalized homophobia/biphobia (like he’d throw punches over someone else, but when it comes to himself he has a lot of shame). and also seeing the dean so confident in all his different outfits/costumes has a weird affect on him bc it’s like “okay, the dean, a cis guy, can do that, but i as a trans guy could Not because that’s Breaking the Rules”. which, like, throwback to the halloween thing. of course there’s no right way to be masculine, but mr. winger does not know that.

another thing!! the episode where their emails get leaked? that includes his emails with his therapist. fuck!! he was outed to the whole world in that episode!! no wonder he was so fucking angry!! this whole episode (and really any time he mentions his therapist) is so interesting when you think about them as a person he talks to about his transition. OH which adds to the thing with the dean!! “and you told your therapist you wanted to be alone this weekend” and “not you jeff, i know you’ll be visiting your dad” ”I told you to stop reading my emails”. luckily his study group has his back and just makes fun of him for emailing astronauts lmao

and WHO can forget “they’re giving out an award for most handsome young man!!!!” what else is there to say about this line besides: he’s trans. you know he didn’t get awarded enough for being a handsome young man when he was a kid, and no amount of compliments when he’s fully-grown can really make up for that. some people crash a kid’s bar mitzvah to cope with the fact that they struggled to be seen as themselves when they were a teenager <3

also his weird relationship with pierce? where he kind of hates him (understandably lmao) but at times has this almost-friends-almost-father-son relationship with him? especially in this episode where he’s forced to bond with him and ends up having a good time by accident (at a barber shop no less, the perfect place to Be A Man with your Man Friend). idk what to say about him besides the fact that pierce says his mom wanted a girl when he was born and made him dress like a girl (and his middle name is anastasia!) so if they’re gonna do any bonding over transness it’s gonna be that. 

okay one last thing and then i’ll shut up for the night. this episode kills me (and almost kills jeff hahahahelpi’mcrying). it’s a very Trans thing to not be able to visualize your future self, it just is. growing up trans at the time he did? i don’t know what kind of future he saw for himself, but i’m so happy that he ended up with a group of friends who became his family and love him the way they all do. i’m so emotional over this asshole it’s ridiculous. 

in conclusion:

they’re trans, your honor <3

[dialovers-translations]

DIABOLIK LOVERS MORE BLOOD Vol.2: Mukami Kou [Track 7+8]

Original title: 堕落した証 & いらいらする

Source: Diabolik Lovers More, Blood Vol. 2: Mukami Kou [CD not owned by me]

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Kimura Ryouhei

Translator’s note: Oh boy oh boy. I should have kept my mouth shut during the last few tracks because these two tracks had me wriggle around in my seat as my stomach turned upside down. > < Those of you who have been around since last year might recall how I struggled with Shuu’s D-S Kyuuketsu CD because of the ‘bodily gore’ noises when he cuts the MC with a knife and then stirs his fingers around in the open wounds. KOU DOES THE EXACT SAME THING GDI. I had to pause several times because I got nauseous. :’’) Please no more of this Rejet. 

Track 1+2 ll Track 3+4 ll Track 5+6 ll Track 7+8 ll Track 9+10

→  LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

Track 7: Proof of Corruption

“Well then, where should I bite you next...~? Both your neck and arm are already dyed a bright crimson from your blood. Fufu~ While I’m at it, I guess I should make you even more red...Perhaps that’ll improve your looks a little.”

*Rustle*

[00:25] “Hmー Such slender wrists...Fufu, I could probably twist them with ease. If I were to plunge my fangs in, they might just pierce right through, don’t you think? Come on, show me your hand.”

*Rustle*

“Hm...These marks are still fresh. Hmー They weren’t left behind by me, which means they belong to one of those guys? Heeeh...Now what a lovely decoration you have here. You really are a maso-kitty, aren’t you? I sort of get now that you’re not doing all of this on purpose. Which means...is someone controlling you behind the scenes?”

*Rustle rustle*

[01:18] “Take flowers, for example. They don’t particularly wish to bloom beautifully, do they? However, some larger force in nature is ordering them to do so to lure in birds and insects. So perhaps you were put together by someone with the specific goal to seduce us Vampires? If not, a plain girl such as yourself couldn’t even dream of having someone like me suck you, not even out of pity. Fufufu...~”

*Rustle rustle*

He digs his finger inside your skin.

[01:59] “Ah-aaah...Since the wound hadn’t fully healed yet, my finger sank in the moment I pressed down. Does it hurt? Fufu~ I’m digging my nail into the open wound after all~ I bet it hurts...Then suffer more...Scream...! Nobody will hear you here. This place has been equipped to ensure that they won’t find you.”

*Rustle*

“But...Well...If they did know you were here, I wonder if they would come and get you? These guys who seem to be oh-so obsessed with you, I mean~”

Kou continues to stir up the wound with his nails.

“Are you writhing in pain? Ah-aaah...Your ugly face only became even more hideous. Should I say it has a certain charm to it? I’m incapable of loving you while you look like that though. However...”

*Rustle*

[02:57] “In regards to these wounds, I feel a strange sense of attachment. I wonder why? Perhaps it’s just fun to compete with other Vampires over a prey such as yourself? Hahaha...But in that case, I have to leave behind my own marks as well or it’s no fun, right? ...I’ll leave my mark on top of these wounds, as if to overwrite them. It’ll be perfect proof of how thoroughly corrupted you’ve become.”

*Rustle*

Kou bites you.

*Gulp*

“Mmh...*

*Gulp gulp*

“ーーHah!”

*Gulp*

[03:50] “Mmh...Haah...I can smell them from here...It pisses me off...Hahn...”

*Gulp gulp*

“Hah, haah...It makes me want to just rip up your whole arm with my fangs...”

*Gulp*

“Fufu...This must be the taste of hatred...~ Exactly...I can’t forgive them...Never! That’s whyーー”

*Gulp gulp*

“Haah...Haah...”

*Rustle*

[04:38] “I won’t return you to them. You’re basically mine now. Offer both your body and soul to me...And go mad. Fufu...Damn~ What’s wrong with me? Am I being spurred on by you? Uwaah...This is a first for me. Fufu~ I truly got my hands on a nifty toy. I was just going to have a little taste before handing you over to Ruki...but I might not want to let you go again.”

*Rustle*

[05:22] “Haah...Let me suck more...Your blood is messing with my head...as I find myself wishing you would offer more of that delicious blood pumping through your veins to me and me only.”

*Rustle*

“Oi. I bet you have other marks left behind by them as well, don’t you? Tell me. I’ll make you go through those painful memories again. Come on, hurry up and fess up.”

*Rustle*

[06:00] “Hey? Are you listening? If you space out like that, I’ll do something much, much more painful and rough?”

You muster a response.

“Hm? Your belly? Eeeh~? Now where could they be...~?”

*Rustle rustle*

“Ah, you must be talking about these. Marks spotted~ They really don’t hold back when devouring you, do they?”

He licks the marks.

“Oh, this one smells different. So, tell me. Did you have them bite you from head to toe? Hah! What a slut you are.”

You protest.

[06:46] “Hm? You didn’t wish for any of this to happen? ...Che. Why are you giving me that defiant look? Do I have to repeat myself a million times before your idiotic brain gets it? I was reminded once more the moment I sucked your blood. You’ve been tampered with in some way to lure in Vampires. I wonder who could be behind it...~? Fufu...Somehow that piques my interest...”

*Rustle*

“But for now, I’ll cover you with my marks. So I’ll thrust my fangs inside these wounds as well...”

Kou digs his nails into your skin once more as you flinch.

[07:31] “Aren’t you happy? I’m the one saying these things after all. ..Aaah-aah, such filthy marks. I’ll erase them right away.”

He bites you again.

“Hahn...”

*Gulp gulp*

“Hah...”

*Gulp gulp*

“Haah...Haah...”

*Sluuuuurp*

“Haah...This stench is persistent...It won’t disappear...Ugh, it pisses me off. If I can’t get rid of it with my fangs...It just makes me want to mess you up as a whole...”

*Rustle*

“Haah...Guess I’ll just have to sink them in deeper and deeper...Like thisーー!”

*Gulp gulp*

“Hah...Nnh...”

You cry out.

[08:41] “Ah...It hurts? Look at you gushing blood all over the place. You really have no shame, do you? But you shouldn’t be able to feel the pain, you know? My fangs have already made it so you perceive everything as pleasure. Fufufu...”

*Rustle*

“I can tell you want me, so try and voice it out loud? Beg for me with a cute tone. Come on, hurry...Ask me to make you feel ever better~”

You whimper.

[09:24] “Hmm~~? I can’t hear you...~ You’re going to have to speak a little louder. Also, don’t forget to sound cute, okay?”

You repeat it.

“Fufu...~ Exactly, like that. Just be honest with yourself...Perhaps then I’ll be able to feel a little affection for someone as ugly as yourself.”

You beg again. 

“Mm~ Good. You managed to beg for it cutely, so I’ll love on you in return. ...With these fangs of mine, that is.”

Kou bites you again.

*Gulp gulp gulp*

“Hahn...Mmh...”

*Sluuuuurp*

[10:14] “...Hah...! ...Hm? ...’More’? ...You can crave it more. I kind of like it when people yearn for me. ...I’ll plunge them inside even deeper than before...”

*Gulp gulp*

“Haah, haah...Ugh...Haah...I guess the smell is starting to fade a little?”

You moan.

“Fufu...Seems like you’re feeling rather good as well. Your body has completely given in to the pleasure, it feels as if your blood has become sweeter as well.”

Track 8: Irritation

Kou inspects your body.

*Rustle*

“Where else have they bitten you...? ー Ah, don’t tell me. I’ll try finding it myself this time...~ After the stomach, it has to be...The legs, right~?”

*Rustle*

[00:18] “Yes, I got it right! ...They sure love going for the risqué spots, don’t they? Hah! Right near your crotch (1) ...How lewd. On top of that, you can tell they’ve sucked from here repeatedly...Very dirty! I wonder what kind of expression you made as they sucked from here? Perhaps you didn’t realize it yourself, but they pretty much got a full view of aaaall your embarrassing places.”

You squeak.

“How embarrassing, gosh! ...But I’m sure you love that sorta stuff, don’t you? After all, I can see a glint of anticipation in your eyes. Or am I just imagining things? Is it because I’m the one doing this to you? ...Well, I guess I’ll figure out the answer to my own question once I bite you. Well then...”

*Rustle*

“Where should I leave my mark? ...Right here. I’ve settled on this spot.”

He bites you again.

*Gulp*

[01:28] “Mmh...Hah...Haha! What a lovely view...Fufu...”

*Gulp gulp*

“Seems like it’s making you weak as well...Look at you twist and turn your body like that...What a dirty girl you are.”

*Gulp gulp gulp*

“ ーーHah! We’re still nowhere near done...Let me suck more and more...Hahn...”

*Gulp gulp*

“Hah...Hah...”

*Gulp*

[02:11] “Haah...Fuck...Could this be a trap of some sorts...? Fufu...I feel as if your blood is leading me straight to my own demise...Well, I guess that’s fine. As long as it feels good...whether it’s a trap or whatever, I’m not scared. Perhaps the person who set you up this way predicted this all along? ...Say.”

*Rustle*

[02:44] “I bet they knew that we would try and snatch you away like that. Guess we’re being mocked, huh? That pisses me off. ...You seem to be feigning ignorance but you’re part of the whole scheme, aren’t you? ...If you think this will all pass as long as you just obediently spread your legs, you’re gravely mistaken. I’ll give you something much, much, much more painful, you’d find yourself wishing you’d be dead instead...!”

*Thud*

Your eyes widen in horror.

“Hehe...”

*Gulp gulp*

[03:26] “...Heh. Does it feel good? Lucky you! I think you might be the first human who has gotten the honor to receive this much pleasure from me. Well, under normal circumstances, one bite is plenty to make any human ascend to Heaven, but in your case, the more I have, the more delicious your blood becomes and on top of that...You dare oppose me. It pisses me off. ...Mmh...”

*Gulp*

“...Hm? There’s marks on your thighs as well!”

*Rustle rustle*

[04:06] “I have to engrave my own mark here as well. ...Geez, I wonder what they find so appealing about these stick legs? I can’t relate, but I don’t like the idea of there being marks from someone other than me. ...Mmh..”

*Gulp*

“Nnh...”

*Gulp gulp*

[04:37] “...Hah...Ah...Haah...~ I feel sluggish for some reason...Have I been numbed? In that case, your blood is to blame. ...This is bad...Fufufu~ I just don’t understand how I want to keep an ugly girl such as yourself all to myself...Makes no sense, does it? I feel irritated by it myself but...I also just can’t help it. This strong desire for you keeps on welling up inside of me...What is happening to me? Geez...Honestly, it pisses me off! I’ve never felt this strongly attached to anything or anyone before!?”

*Rustle*

“Hahn...”

*Gulp gulp gulp*

“...ー Hah!”

*Gulp gulp gulp*

“Mmh...Haah, haah...I can’t get enough...Do you want me more? ...So do I.”

*Gulp gulp*

[05:57] “Hah...Yearn for me more and more...You just need to keep your eyes on me. ...You belong to me now. Happy? Of course you are. If you continue to writhe around like that, I’ll give you never-ending pleasure.”

*Rustle*

“Mmh...Haahn...”

*Gulp gulp*

“Mmh...Nnh...”

*Gulp*

“Haah, haah...!”

*Gulp*

[06:37] “Haah...! I can’t...I still haven’t had enough...Hm. I still refuse to give you up. I’ll make you forget about those other guys in no time. I’m obsessing over you, so it only makes sense. ...Unlike those guys, I won’t call you prey either. You’re mine after all. ...Doesn’t that make you happy? I’m a gentleman after all~ I know how to make a girl happy. I’m sure you didn’t like being degraded by having them call you ‘prey’ either, right? Fufu...~”

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー 

Translation notes

(1) 足の付け根 or ‘ashi no tsukene’ is the root/base of the leg where it connects to the hips. 

[smiting-finger]

alive, and back on my usual nonsense

So after getting preoccupied with other things and temporarily falling off the face of the planet (for like an entire year ಥωಥ), I was thinking about the kdrama Mr. Queen (which I've been meaning to watch), and the Chinese novel it was based on (太子妃升职记, which I read a few years ago and very much enjoyed), and this popped out--

Wei Wuxian’s first thought is that there seem to be an awful lot of female voices around, for a bedroom inhabited by two men. Did he drink too much last night? It wouldn’t be the first time he’s overindulged on a trip to the town and woken up in a strange place the next morning, but that kind of problem has been cropping up a lot less frequently now that he has Lan Zhan around to ferry him home.

(Sometimes literally, on his back. His broad, strong--)

But perhaps Lan Zhan had gotten drunk, too? In which case, Wei Wuxian should consider them lucky to have woken up surrounded by people, rather than chickens, rabbits or, notably, on one occasion, mounds of resentful cabbages.

The chatter around him continues, pitched high with youth and - is that anxiety? It's interspersed with the odd interjection from what sounds like one (calmer, if more exasperated) older woman and a man. Probably not a nunnery, he decides. Perhaps the back rooms of a pleasure house? Although, if that’s the case, this amount of excitement over a mere two men is honestly a little excessive.

He reaches out tentatively, but pats all the way across the mattress to the edge without finding his usual bedfellow. A much less tentative venture towards the other side produces similar results.

Hm.

Wei Wuxian cracks open an eye and heaves himself upright, absent-mindedly scratching at his (unusually soft - as much as he hates to admit it, maybe Nie Huaisang has a point about drinking less and training more) side and squinting into the too-bright light until the person-shaped blur in front of him sharpens into focus.

“Niang niang!” a complete stranger cries tearfully, clutching at the sleeve of his other arm. “You’re awake! Thank Heavens, you’re awake! Physician Liu, quick, quick!”

A cushion is produced from somewhere and thrust expectantly between Wei Wuxian and the elderly man sitting at his bedside.

He sighs. It’s probably not worth fighting.

Wei Wuxian smacks his upturned wrist onto the unusually lavish brocade and is only a little surprised when it’s covered by a cloth before the physician reaches to take it.

(Do they think he’s diseased?)

((Is he diseased?!))

(((Is that why Lan Zhan isn’t here?)))

He looks at the row of young girls (+ 1 matron) kneeling along the wall to his left, dressed identically to the first and also now beginning to prostrate themselves and wail about “Niang niang!” and blessings and deserving to die.

Not a pleasure house, then.

He looks around at the rest of the richly-furnished room and its intricately-carved wooden furniture, the wealth of jade carvings and the obscene amount of gold that's gilding … everything (so shiny). The opulence of it all would put even Jin Guangshan to shame.

So, not a nunnery either.

He looks down at the small hands, delicate wrists and - he clutches one abruptly just to make sure his eyes aren’t deceiving him - breasts of the body that he certainly was not inhabiting yesterday.

“Well,” he says aloud, unable to stop himself from wincing at the high, soft voice that emerges despite fully expecting it. “It’s not the first time this has happened.”

===

Two days, one diagnosis of shock-induced memory loss and some discreet enquiries (as well as some indiscreet enquiries) later, this is what he knows about his situation:

He’s the main consort (unfavoured) of the crown prince of whatever place he’s landed in;

Three days ago, following a disagreement with one Consort Yun (favoured, main competitor for husband’s affections);

In the course of this disagreement, both women somehow fell into a palace lake and mostly-drowned;

Consort Yun (admittedly quite pretty) was revived at the scene, but Wei Wuxian took a full day to “miraculously” recover;

Angered by the unseemly behaviour of her daughters-in-law, particularly upon learning that the Crown Princess’s first act upon waking was to stumble upon a chance meeting between the Crown Prince and Consort Yun in one of the pleasure gardens and bodily throw herself between them (a tactical error on Wei Wuxian’s part. He’d been trying to throw himself over the battlements to freedom, but he’d gotten lost and scaled the wrong wall), the Empress (Crown Prince’s political opponent, not particularly fond of either consort) grounded both of them to their respective residences for a month, with no visitors allowed.

Which brings him to his current position, feeding the fish in his personal pond as an excuse to be alone. Not truly alone - he shoots a pointed glance at the maids watching anxiously from the other side of the courtyard - because he’s apparently a “suicide risk” now (and honestly, yes, he’d meant to throw himself off that roof, but he hadn’t meant to die - it’s simply that this new body’s cultivation level is not what he’s come to expect even from Mo Xuanyu’s modest abilities), but alone enough to start planning his next move.

Direct escape is out - he didn’t have a plan for what to do once he’d gotten out anyway, and honestly he’s better-resourced for finding out how he got here in the Palace than anywhere else, so it’s no great loss.

“What do you think, Master Fish?” Wei Wuxian asks a gold and black spotted koi with particularly sage-looking whiskers. “Shall I just stay here for the time being?”

It’s not a terrible place to be for the time being, he must admit, throwing more food into the water and watching the fish swarm. Being grounded, he’s at no risk from the Crown Prince’s amorous attentions for a month (a salute of gratitude to the Empress for the inadvertent protection). And thanks to Consort Yun and her voluptuous figure (and if the Crown Prince is more partial to that than the Zhao Feiyan style of willowy fragility that Wei Wuxian seems to have inherited, who can honestly blame him?), he’s at no great risk from them after that, either (a salute of gratitude to the unknowing sister-in-arms, taking one - and hopefully a great many more after that - for the team).

According to his maid (sleeve-clutcher extraordinaire, who even now is boring two holes into his skull with her woeful gaze from across the way while he does nothing more suspicious than scatter another handful of feed towards some latercomer fish), the body he’s inhabiting comes from a powerful military lineage. In particular, her father is (was?) a powerful general who currently commands more than half the nation’s military forces and has the absolute trust of the Emperor. So that more or less keeps him safe from the machinations of the majority of the nest of vipers in this palatial cesspit.

That just leaves the Empress, who - if his servants and the smuggled letters from the Original Goods’s mother (a salute of gratitude to the worthy woman for spelling it out so that even such an interloper as he can understand) are anything to go by - would definitely kill him to damage the Crown Prince’s political standing or throw any sort of roadblock in the way of him from becoming Emperor.

Less immediately - if his secret informants are anything to go by (a salute of gratitude to the resourceful host for cultivating such a valuable resource if not her dantian) - it also leaves the Crown Prince, who, upon cementing his power as Emperor, would also definitely kill his current Crown Princess in order to wedge his beloved Consort Yun into the Empress role.

Really, the only road to any sort of security for someone in his position is to raise the next Imperial heir, outlive the Original Goods’s faithless husband and become the Empress Dowager.

Hopefully Wei Wuxian will be long gone by then, but if leaving means the Original Goods will return (from … Mo Xuanyu’s body? The Ether? Or???) - well, he doesn’t want to repay her hospitality by leaving her house in a mess, so to speak. So he’ll try to set her on that career path, if he can.

But that’s an aspirational goal. First, he has to not-die before he can find out how to get himself home.

And find out how to get himself home.

If getting himself home is even possible.

Wei Wuxian dumps the rest of the fish food in the water and yells.

(It startles the maids, the fish and the poor eunuch the Crown Prince has sent as a spy into falling out of the tree he’s been hiding in and into the prickly bushes below.)

===

The problem with “staying for the time being” is … well, how interminably boring it is. The approved list of hobbies for an Imperial consort seems to consist of: eating (but not too much), sleeping (but not too much), embroidery (which he can’t do), reading (but only texts on female virtue and the occasional terrible novel), playing music (but not the flute), conversing with his maids (who are very sweet, but are all like, 12) and walking in the gardens (which he’s not allowed to do).

Honestly, it’s no wonder all the consorts turn to scheming and murder.

It only takes a week of confinement for him to snap and sneak himself out for a nighttime adventure, setting off to explore the grounds and see … a night-blooming flower, a ghost, a rat, he’ll take pretty much anything at this point.

In the end, he finds none of these things, but the walking is still pretty nice, and he even hears the faint sounds of a guqin wafting over from one of the other consorts’ residences. (He should probably learn who lives where at some point, but it’s not exactly a priority. What’s he going to do with the information when he can only visit during the nighttime? Peep?) When Wei Wuxian wanders closer, the notes resolve themselves into the familiar strains of Flowing Waters, and his breath catches on a sudden surge of longing to hear the same song, played by a different set of fingers.

(First played on a familiar guqin and then, later, accompanied by soft humming between soft, worn sheets, played across the edges of Wei Wuxian’s ribs, along the dip of his spine, and finally lower, into--)

((Is Lan Zhan thinking about him?))

(((Is Lan Zhan looking for him?)))

Stumbling blindly on, he’s so caught up in missing Lan Zhan that he misses the first few stanzas of the next piece, and it isn’t until the music starts to rise in a familiar refrain that he freezes.

He knows that song.

He’s one of the only two people who know that song, which is in fact how he got caught out the last time he found himself in a farce of an identity charade, by the only other person who knows that song, who must be - who must be -

Lan Zhan, his blood sings in his ears as he takes off in a dead run towards the source of the playing. Up ahead of him, small courtyard glows softly with the light of the only burning lamp in their vicinity. Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan-

He scrambles up the wall with the ease of a lifetime’s practice, using bloody-minded determination to make up for the lack of muscle memory.

“Lan Zhan,” he yelps, forgetting to whisper in his excitement as he flings himself over the top and into the branches of a convenient, wall-side tree. “Lan Zhan, it’s me, I-”

This is, naturally, when his foot slips. He manages to catch hold of a branch, but his tender hands and puny wrists, unused to holding up anything heavier than a chicken leg, fail to maintain their hold through his weight, and he tumbles down the trunk into a sad puddle of fabric on the ground.

“Lan Zhan,” he gasps, fighting to untangle himself from the ridiculous train that, admittedly, made a considerable contribution to cushioning his fall. He clambers up onto his hands and knees--

--and looks straight into the wide-eyed stare of Consort Yun.

===

“I cannot believe,” Wei Wuxian growls, palming the ample softness of one exposed breast with one hand, while shoving the other deeper into the many (too many) layers of fabric between them and between Lan Zhan’s splayed legs, “that after everything that’s happened, you’re still taller than me.”

Lan Zhan huffs a laugh that turns quickly into a moan, and Wei Wuxian swallows it, smothers Lan Zhan’s gasping breaths with his own parted lips and sucks them greedily down even as he coaxes out more with twisting fingers here, another tug to Lan Zhan’s poor, abused nipple there.

He slides his fingers back between slick folds and then upwards again, pushing in and out in a few languid strokes before curling them to make Lan Zhan arch harder against the wall behind him, tilt his head back and expose a beautifully vulnerable stretch of neck to Wei Wuxian's teeth.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan murmurs, and his voice is different, the shape of his lips is different, but the way Wei Wuxian’s name fits inside his mouth (tender, beloved), the way he tucks the flyaway strands of hair behind Wei Wuxian’s ear, the look in his eyes when their gazes meet (warm, open, knowing) are the same, same, same.

===

===

I am entirely too lazy to write the rest of it, but afterwards they regroup and it turns out LWJ has been in this world for exactly one more day than WWX, having woken up in Consort Yun’s body when she was “revived”. Consort Yun is the daughter of a high-ranking Minister in the Treasury or something, so Lan Zhan been using his new position as the daughter of a ~scholarly family~ to build a reputation for being really into Buddhist scripture, and eventually he’s going to request to be allowed to go to a nearby Temple to attain some virtuous brownie points for the Imperial family via prayer as his penitence.

That there’s also an elderly monk living there who’s got a reputation for being super good with the divine mysteries and spiritual lore about curses and whatnot is totally immaterial, if Lan Zhan happens to run into that guy, it’ll be a total coincidence, yeah.

So WWX also starts on the divine penitence route, and if everyone thinks it’s because the Crown Princess refuses to be outdone by Consort Yun, then even better, and two weeks into confinement they wear the Empress down into letting them make the trip, and when they get there, turns out the monk is Nie Huaisang.

(NHS: “OH THANK GOD, I’ve done the research but the lynchpin of this mess is definitely somewhere in the Palace and I could not for the life of me figure out a way to get in.”

WWX: “That's nice, but seriously, how come you got to stay a man?”

NHS: “My friend, I may be a man, but my balls are currently swinging somewhere around my ankles.”

WWX: “...show me.”

And LWJ is like “NO.” except WWX can tell by the look in his eye that he sort of wants to see, too).

So they return to the Palace and WWX whirls into one of their morning audiences with the Empress, distraught about a ~dream from the ancestors~ where they warned him about disrupted ley lines or accumulated resentment or an offended minor god that needs investigation by someone, and “How convenient, because we met just the guy!” And the Empress looks like she was Done Five Years Ago, but the Empress Dowager, who’s old and doddery, is like “oh no, you must bring him!” and the Empress mutters “to fucking what, offend some major gods and really do the job properly?” and that’s how they find out the Empress is Jiang Cheng.

In the meantime, the confinement edict expires and WWX+LWJ are allowed to return to their regular programming, which means that as the legal wife, WWX can continuously summon LWJ to his residence for increasingly tenuous and spurious reasons. The best thing is, it’s not even out of character for the Crown Princess, who used to regularly summon Consort Yun to subject her to not-so-veiled barbs and petty torments. So WWX summons LWJ, and then immediately expels both their entourages from the room, instructing that no one is to enter on pain of death.

So LWJ’s maids are gnashing their teeth helplessly while all sorts of piteous moans, pained gasps and the occasional scream emanate from behind the closed door, and when their mistress finally emerges there are no marks on her body, but she’s weak-kneed and having trouble walking straight, so who knows what kind of terrible tortures the Crown Princess has visited upon her.

The Crown Prince obviously hears about this, so he bursts in one day without warning, only to find the two sitting together, the Crown princess’s arms around Consort Yun’s waist, her cheek pillowed on one heaving bosom, and although she’s smiling besottedly at him now, he could have sworn that he felt killing intent being directed at him only a second ago? And to tell the truth, he’s not really in love Consort Yun either, it’s all an act to keep the two consorts (and their families) pitted in a power struggle against each other until he can finally outmanoeuvre the Empress and cement his position as heir to the throne (and also to protect his actual favourite, a third consort who’s a nondescript nobody with no political backing). So the fact that “It was all a misunderstanding, we’re friends now,” his Crown Princess says sweetly (and did she … rub her cheek against his Consort’s chest? Must be his imagination) is not the worst thing (at least neither of them/their families can be enlisted by the Empress in support of her son, and if they’re caught up with Being Besties, then at least they’re not bullying his actual favourite), but for some reason he still feels kind of … threatened? Like someone’s making moves on his wife, which is absurd because they’re both his wives, but the vibes he gets from the first one in particular are kind of … off?

In any case, the crew solve the mystery, find the lynchpin object (which turns out to be a jade dildo belonging to one of the Emperor’s favoured consorts because of course it is), and wake up in their real bodies, in their real world, to a very apologetic hermit-inventor-cultivator whose property they stumbled onto while pursuing a resentful beast. Turns out they triggered the glamour/enchantment/psychic maze world he created as a security system because, “I just didn’t want to risk people getting into my stuff, you know? I’ve got some things that could be very dangerous in the wrong hands”. WWX is like “oh yeah, for sure” and JC is like “WHAT DO YOU MEAN FOR SURE? HOW IS THIS AN UNDERSTANDABLE RESPONSE, IF YOU’RE AFRAID PEOPLE WILL TOUCH YOUR SHIT THEN JUST ENCHANT SOME FUCKING WARRIOR GOLEMS LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE.”

[andromedasstarship]

in the stars - chapter 2

photo credits - @ssahotchnerr

pairing - aaron hotchner x reader

warnings - canon-typical criminal minds violence, show rating 16+ for reference. depictions of violence, stalking, murder, angst, age gap couple, language 

summary - You and Aaron reunite, but it’s not exactly anything to celebrate over. The case moves forward, but you really wish it hadn’t like this.  

a/n - no one is allowed to call me out on my lack of LA/california geographical knowledge. ive also started including readers mental thought train which is italicized (flashbacks will also be in italics, but ill always properly mark a flashback). if you arent tagged but asked, just send another ask/reply! i mustve missed it on accident.

blog rules 

masterlist // read it on ao3 here

chapter 1 // chapter 3

-----

Chapter 2 

Aaron Hotchner was standing in front of you. Impeccable, not even a slight crease in his shoes and suit pressed to perfection. He still smelled faintly like cedar, a thought you quickly tried to send away; it was too late though, already remembering how pitiful it was post breakup, when you would smell the shirts he left at your house, a desperate attempt to remember that he existed in your life. You’d spent hours, days even, thinking about how you’d react if you were ever to see Aaron in person again. At the top of the list was screaming at him, really giving him a piece of your mind for leaving the way he did. Or, maybe you’d be cool and composed, the epitome of maturity and ‘I’m Totally Over You’. You’d even considered completely ignoring him, not even giving him a second glance. Instead you were frozen to the spot, staring up at the man who broke your heart. 

Pulling your eyes away from him, they darted towards the gap between his body and outside, internally debating if you’d be able to somehow sneak around him. As if he could read your mind, not like you had been particularly subtle, he moved to close the gap before you had the chance to fully formulate an escape. 

“Y/N,” he tried again, voice a bit firmer this time around. It’d be better if he couldn’t speak. But then again he had such a beautiful voice-. No, you mentally clamped down on that thought before it could lead you down another rabbit hole. “Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“Tell you, uh, what?” You asked, hyper aware of how mousy you must’ve sounded.

“That someone was murdering women that looked like you. You should’ve called my team sooner, it was irresponsible to put yourself at further risk of-” 

“Are you trying to imply that this is somehow my fault, Agent Hotchner?” The words felt bitter on your tongue. It wasn’t like you, to suddenly be so quick to anger. Years in the spotlight had taught you to hold your tongue, but Aaron’s words managed to cut right through. 

“That’s not what I’m saying, you know that-,” he tried to interject, but you weren’t going to back down so easy. 

“I know what Agent? Please, tell me the acceptable response to this situation,” you spat out at him, finding a brief enjoyment in the way his face scrunched up ever so slightly. “The police were working on the case, I’ve dealt with weirdos before.” Aaron opened his mouth again as if to speak, but you weren’t finished, “You really think I believed you’d answer if I called?” 

His face fell at that and you felt some form of internal victory swell in your chest. Y/N 1 point, Aaron Hotchner 0. The victory was short lived though, as you came to the realization that the two of you were still in a very public setting. 

“I’m not going to fight with you Agent, I suggest you get back to your team.” With that you shoved your way past him, stomping the entire way to your car. It was a shame, the way the anger and sadness was consuming you, maybe if it hadn’t, this time you would’ve noticed the clicking coming from the tree line. 

----

Hotch wished you had been angry; it would’ve been easier to handle you if you had been screaming in his face or throwing low-blow comments his way. He could deal with anger. It’d be easier if he could pretend that you were being completely out of line and could warrant being ignored for the rest of the case. 

That wasn’t you though, and he knew this. He didn’t have to be a profiler to see and hear the way you struggled to hold yourself together. He didn’t need to be a profiler to feel how disappointed you were with him. Hotch didn’t know how to deal with this or you.  Even though it had been months, had he truly fallen so far from your graces; was your opinion so lowly of him now? 

Hotch wasn’t sure which was worse to stomach, the fact that you had such little faith in him or the deep rooted feeling in his gut that told him you were right- had you called him unannounced two months ago, he wouldn’t have picked up the phone. 

----

You sat in your car for twenty minutes, at least. It was pitiful, the way you were crying in your car, to a sad playlist, over a guy who hurt your feelings; it felt like high school all over again. In the moment, you had felt good, the way you watched Aaron’s face twist and fall at your words giving you some sick form of satisfaction. 

It’s not like you had lied to him or anything. You hadn’t even stretched the truth for ultimate impact. The whole overly formal ‘Agent’ thing was definitely on purpose though. No, you had meant every word you said to Aaron, especially about not believing he’d answer if you called. What would you have even said if you called and he did pick up? Hi Aaron, remember me? Good, anyway hope you’re doing well but I think I have a murderous stalker, can you help? Actually, that’s probably exactly how the conversation would’ve gone, but that’s beside the point. 

The point was that even if you could trust the Unit Chief of the BAU to do his job, you weren’t sure you could trust Aaron Hotchner anymore. 

----

When you finally did muster up the courage to return to the conference room, you really wished you hadn’t. You should’ve just turned your car on and left. Was it possible to ghost the FBI? You’d heard enough stories from Aaron about how their tech wizard had found people with just a single loose thread, there was definitely no way you were going to make some spy like disappearance. 

Aaron wasn’t in the room, something you were grateful for in the moment. But what you weren’t grateful for was how the team had managed to set up multiple bulletin boards in your absence; filled with your photo, crime scene photos, the dead women and your personal least favorite, the dead women’s bodies. 

Of course, you knew what was going on, you were a big girl, well old enough to understand and process the gravity of the situation. But you’d only seen photos of the women alive, with personality and humanity; something about that made them look less like you and more like them. Looking at them now- dead, eyes closed, faces tilted away from the camera- these women didn’t just look like you, they were you. 

You hadn’t even realized you were drifting closer to one of the boards until you felt a hand pull at the crook of your elbow. Turning your head ever so slightly you saw JJ, giving you one of her nice looks again. 

“Y/N, you don’t need to see these,” JJ started, already pulling you in the opposite direction. You were about to agree, head already halfway to a full nod when you noticed something from the corner of your eye. 

“Wait!” You exclaimed, pulling your arm back and getting right in front of a photo of victim #2. You very gently pulled the photo of the wall and held it closely in front of your face. Were you allowed to move it? Oh well. You felt the rest of the team’s eyes burning holes through your back so you turned to face them. “I, um, I’m pretty sure the sweater she’s wearing is mine.” You said, voice coming out as a whisper. 

The team certainly seemed to liven up at that statement. Even though they hadn’t even been in LA for a full 24 hours yet, it was obvious from the start that LAPD hadn’t been lacking on the case, rather the unsub was just that good. They reported no evidence from any dump sites,- and now those sites had been contaminated far too much to double check- there had been no witnesses for any of the abductions, and the unsub hadn’t attempted any contact with Y/N; all in all, they had nothing. 

“Y/N, are you sure?” Emily asked, she was quickly pulling photos of the other three women down, bringing them over to the roundtable. “Are the women in these photos wearing anything else you recognize?” 

“Yeah, yeah I’m sure. There’s a little hole right there, on the side, the threads were pretty loose and I got stuck on a doorknob once, ripped it right open. I couldn’t find it when I went to fix it, just assumed I threw it away and forgot.” You said quietly, moving your way to the table. Your brain wasn’t working properly, hadn’t quite yet come to the conclusion that the rest of the agents already reached. He had gotten into your house. “Oh my god.” You whispered, voice shaking. “He was in my house, wasn’t he?” 

The agents all looked down at you with sympathetic gazes before Emily finally spoke up again. “We can’t be sure just yet, but I need you to look at these photos and tell me if you recognize anything else okay? Can you do that for me?” 

You nodded, making your way over to the table and taking a seat. You were well aware one of the agents just called for Hotch, but you couldn’t be bothered with that right now. 

----

“Hotch,” Derek said, his voice urgent as he rounded the corner, interrupting whatever conversation Hotch was having with a random officer, “Y/N recognized the sweater victim #2 was wearing at the dumpsite as hers. Emily’s showing her the rest of the photos and it’s looking like the unsub left something of hers on each one.” 

That certainly got Hotch’s attention. He didn’t need Derek to fill in the blank, the unsub had been in your house. His fists tightened at his side and he couldn’t help the way his face twisted in anger. In this state, Derek knew better than to question this unusually personal reaction, instead just angling his body back towards the conference room. He didn’t even have a chance to open his mouth before Hotch brushed past him, making his way back to you. 

----

Starting with a photo of victim #1, you very slowly pulled it closer in front of you. Oh my god, her neck. Obviously, you’ve seen bruises before, been on a whole bunch of film sets that used makeup to create some pretty gory pieces, but nothing like this. The unsub didn’t just stangle these women, it was like he wanted to completely crush their throats. 

One of the agents behind you was questioning your ability to stomach this, so you quickly forced yourself to focus. It was the least you could do for these poor women, just give them your undivided attention for ten minutes, and then you could deal with everything else later.

Your finger traced over the bracelet victim #1 was wearing. “This is mine. There’s a singular heart engraved on the back of the third diamond’s plating. I bought it for myself after I got cast in my first big role, cried for weeks when I ‘lost’ it.” 

“And what about this one?” Emily asked, gently pulling victim #1’s photo away from you and replacing it with #4. You didn’t miss the way she turned the photos you’d already looked at upside down, as if to further shield you from them. Nor did you miss that she was technically skipping victim #3. 

It didn’t take you long to notice what was yours on victim #4. “It’s the dress, it’s really comfy, I used to wear it a lot, like a lot a lot. I brought it with me so often on trips I just assumed it got left in a hotel room somewhere.” 

Emily nodded, taking back that photo and turning it over as well. You could see her hesitation in showing you victim #3, but she slid it across the table to you as well. Her fingertips ghosting on the edge of the photo, ready to pull it back as soon as you gave an answer.

Victim #3 was tough. She looked the most like you, both when she was alive and certainly the way she looked now. 

You took a sharp intake of breath as you looked down at her the first thing that caught your eye was the necklace. Most certainly yours and most certainly the one that Aaron had given you for your three year anniversary. You realized it was lost a few months after the breakup and nearly tore your house apart looking for it; you didn’t have many things from your relationship with Aaron to prove he was once part of your life, making the few things you did have all the more important. “The necklace, there’s an A engraved on the back and I’m pretty sure those shoes are mine too.” Emily swept the photo back and out of view as soon as the last words left your lips. 

“JJ, get those items out of evidence immediately so we can be absolutely sure,” Hotch ordered. Aaron. You hadn’t even realized he had walked into the room, you turned to look at him, eyes wide with sadness and fear. The tears that were beginning to form tugged viciously on his heart.  “Miss L/N, my team and I are going to escort you back to your home and we’re going to need to canvas it for signs of entry and identify if anything else is missing. Is that okay?” He asked, his voice soft with something most of the members couldn’t place. 

You simply nodded at that, glad that you wouldn’t have to be alone, “Do you need my address, or will you just follow my car?” There was definitely humor in that, Aaron already knew exactly where you lived and the code to get through the gates. 

“Your address is already in our files, but for your safety we’ll be following close behind.” He assured you. The rest of the team was jumping into action, grabbing their personal belongings along with copious amounts of gloves and bags you assumed would be for potential evidence. 

As you all exited the building and entered your respective vehicles, it was Reid who realized where he’d heard that softness in Hotch’s voice before. It was the same tone he used to use with Hayley, back when things were good. 

----

Your house wasn’t far and it was a drive you knew well; grateful for the ability to somewhat distract yourself on the road. The gatesman to your development gave you a real odd look when you told him the two black SUV’s filled with FBI agents were with you, but you couldn’t care less about which neighbor he might spread that info too. Did you see? L/N brought in the FBI, wonder what she’s caught up in. At least all the neighbors and workers had signed airtight NDAs, no one was allowed to talk to any outsiders about the personal happenings of their fellow residents. 

Your house was towards the top of the hill, with a great overlook to the ocean. You had only been 20 when you bought the house and you viewed it as the ultimate achievement of all your hard work and determination. You couldn't shake the bad taste in your mouth as you pulled up the driveway. The house felt tainted now, something you were never sure you’d be able to shake. 

----

Once again, not exactly how you imagined the entire team entering your house for the first time. Your house was extensive, as were the grounds; the team quickly realized they would probably be here for the rest of the day and well into the night.

You were standing awkwardly in the middle of your foyer, unsure of how to exactly approach this situation. “So, there’s about 10 rooms in the house, not including the kitchen and general living spaces, as well with the basement which is technically one big room. I made maps once as a joke, I think I have some in the office, if you wanted those? Or we could do one big house tour and you can break off that way,” you were so rambling, but them being in your house and why they were in your house was setting in, “or you can just go off however you want-” 

“Miss L/N,” JJ said, there was that nice look again, “why don’t you show me around the house so I can get a base level understanding of everything there is. The rest of my team will go start a basic canvas of the inside and the grounds as well.” Thank you JJ. 

You nodded at this, glad that someone else was taking control of the situation. Before you could lead JJ towards the kitchen, your phone started to ring, startling you. When did you get this skittish? 

“My friend is calling,” you said, holding up your phone, “I gotta take this, I was supposed to meet him for coffee a few minutes ago.” You excused yourself, quickly making your way to an empty room away from the rest of the team. Your friend was annoyed at your more than last minute cancellation, but luckily he didn’t pry too hard and accepted your flimsy “I’m not feeling too well’ excuse on the first go. 

“I know, I’m sorry, but I promise I’ll make it up to you as soon as I feel better. Yeah, I love you too. I gotta go, bye.” As you hung up, you could feel a gaze burning into the back of your head. Turning around, you found Aaron staring down at you from the doorway. How long had he been there? 

“You should have told us about your boyfriend sooner. Trying to protect him from questioning will only-”

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” you exclaimed, a bit too hurriedly, “I, uh, I’m not seeing anyone at all actually, haven’t in a while.” Smooth. 

Aaron was smart enough to read through the lines and understand what you had left unsaid. His gaze didn’t give up, but you could’ve swore you saw relief somewhere in his eyes. You weren’t sure if you were supposed to say something, or if he was supposed to say something, or should you walk out, or- 

“Neither have I.” Hotch’s voice broke through your thoughts, but just as quickly as he said it, he turned on his heel and left you alone in the room.

----

a/n - if anyone is wondering ive 100% cried multiple times at how kind and supportive everyone has been with me about this story. we’re only 2 chapters in but im already sad for it to end. yes i 100% have a bunch of other wip ideas for hotch. anywaaaaaaay, replies/asks/comments/reblogs/likes always appreciated! thank you so much for reading 

Taglist: @mac99martin @iwaizumiee @kylorendrip @hqtchner @lieswithoutfairytales @ssahoodrathotchner @midsummernightdream @weasleylovers @evans-dejong @itsmytimetoodream @yoshigguk @28cnn @cuddlyklaus @hotch-meeeeeuppppp

no permission is given to republish or upload my fics anywhere else. if you see this story not on my tumblr or ao3 it is stolen work. i do not own criminal minds or any of the characters involved

[ocalaghan]

I juuuuust finished watching Shameless (US) which I started... less than 6 months ago, I think? And I just. Have so many thoughts.

That show was crazy. It's been on my list for years and I've seen various emosh clips of it on Tumblr from its very early days but I finally began watching it when I did because @agaytoremembr told me to and boy oh boy.

I started out really loving it but it gradually got worse (read as: the characters' stories were bullshit 80% of the time) and then Fiona left and it officially sucked. She really made the whole show and after she left, all of the Gallaghers somehow started to suck more so the last season in particular was a struggle (and I also watched Shameless: Hall Of Shame just because I hate myself apparently). The finale ended on such a garbage note. I realise it was meant to be a parallel to the opening scene of the pilot but it just... sucked. Sometimes parallels don't hit that emotional nail on the head and this was one of those times. I also really didn't need it to be a COVID season, we have enough of that in real life and none of them even donned their masks properly when they were meant to so what was the point of including them at all?

I was happy they mentioned Fiona in the finale but I feel like it wasn't enough. It was Frank that mentioned her and I think the siblings should have also talked about her, or mentioned calling her, or just something. Instead of, you know, seemingly forgetting she existed. She's their sister and they loved her so that was fucking annoying. But then again, we rarely saw good sibling interaction/intertwined plotlines towards the end between any of them. It was like they were all housemates that mildly tolerated one another. Which was... stupid? The whole point of the show is about that family banding together through thick and thin lmfao.

Overall I'm glad I watched it but very disappointed with how much the entire plot for nearly every character went in the toilet at the end. Character development? We don't know her.

Don't get me started on the plot-holes either, I don't have it in me. Their ages and birthdays almost sent me into an early fucking grave, never mind everything else.

Anyway there were so many characters over the course of the show sooooooo I have to word-vomit my feelings on all of them obviously. I'll start with the Gallagher family and then other characters.

FRANK & MONICA

Wild. Terrible selfish parents, obviously. Was kind of sad that Monica died, especially right beside Frank. She was a bad mother but I totally did not expect her to die. Frank, on the other hand, I was friggin' desperate for him to just bite the dust already by season three. PLEASE SIR. JUST DIE. FOR THE SAKE OF HUMANITY. I get that his antics were supposed to be funny and ridiculous but I hated watching the majority of his storylines - they were either stupid, annoying, disgusting, or just downright depressing. Truly an awful father, truly hated that many scenes of his seemed to try and evoke empathy for him from viewers. NO. NO THANK-YOU. I did feel sorry for him at the end though, it's a rough way to die. I felt like the way his story closed out was fitting but they could've made his demise over the final season so much more emotional (the way the kids found out about his alcoholic dementia, for example). We didn't even see them read his suicide note (which actually was also really shit and just insulting so maybe that's fine) or find out about his actual death which I think would've been important to show, considering they all joked about wanting him to be dead, so like... actually seeing those complicated emotions play out would've been a great closing chapter IMO.

SAMMI & CHUCKIE (& QUEENIE)

Sammi was literally one of the most annoying female characters to ever stumble onto my television screen and I HATED her after a while. I wanted someone to fully beat her ass. I hate her more than I hate Rachel Berry from Glee and that's a lot. But it still bugged me when she faded into the background and stopped being mentioned. No idea how long her prison sentence was meant to be but I assume she eventually gets out and learns about Frank's death? Can't really see her having much contact with her half-siblings unless she comes out of prison with a major attitude adjustment. It's probably a good thing Chuckie was living with his grandmother. Queenie seemed ever so slightly less deranged. I did feel a bit sorry for Chuckie though, and maybe it'd be nice if he got to know the Gallagher side of his family some day? I feel like he and Carl could be good friends lmao.

FIONA

Fiona Gallagher supremacy. I loved her from day one and it baffles me that there are watchers that hate her. HOW CAN U HATE HER. PROTECT HER. SHE DESERVES EVERYTHING GOOD. She was diverse and loveable and relatable and I felt closer to her when she got an abortion too because I don't see a lot of shows where it's an adult woman that chooses to do that (instead of a high schooler). I just loved her and her arc was so good. I wasn't even sad that she left because I wanted her to get out of Chicago and do something great with her life, but God did the show suffer when she went lol. The last couple of seasons would've been much better with her presence but at least with her not there, I can picture her living a great life in Florida, having a good job and a nice place, staying in touch with her siblings and Kev and V obviously... getting into a healthy relationship, finally? And I think this is probably an unpopular opinion but I was rooting for her and JimmySteve. I mean, he was a compulsive liar, but I was also rooting for him to stop doing that. So in my head they are endgame but in a healthy way lmao.

Side-note, Fiona's Hall Of Shame episode was craaaazy. I feel like she would never go on a reality dating show but all of the other episodes for this companion series were canon so that must be too. And I am pretending her new Florida pals were the ones that put her up to this. Because it does feel very un-Fiona, or at least the Southside Fiona that we knew.

LIP

I loveloveloved Lip at the start of the show and then the last few seasons, he just pissed me off most of the time. They did him so dirty. I like to think he makes something of himself but the fact everything was hung up on a question mark as to whether he would cope financially and job-wise, and whether he and Tami would keep their possible second baby was just so... ANNOYING. No answers, just straight-up ended the show on a weird cliffhanger for so many of the characters. I will say, I am delighted he did find a way to sell the house after all even if it was for less money, because then he can tell Debbie to suck it.

IAN

I thought I was going to like Ian a lot at the beginning but I never fully warmed up to him... partly because he was gonna be in the army or whatever it was. Some of his opinions and overall attitude just bothered me and I didn't like him a lot of the time, and he was a dick to Fiona CONSTANTLY over nothing, but I also wanted to see him do good things? It's a Complex Relationship(tm). Anyway, I hate that he and Mickey were endgame. I feel like the majority of the fandom loves them together? But I fucking hate it. They had passion but they were not healthy for one another. The implication is they remain happy on the West Side and end up adopting some stray infant or two eventually so I guess that works out but ugh. Also, a real swing and a miss that the show reveals Ian's biological father is actually one of Frank's brothers... and then that just never gets explored. Missed opportunity, IMO. I like to think maybe Ian decides to get to know Clayton after Frank's death and maybe even has a decent father/son relationship with someone for once.

DEBBIE (& FRANNY)

Girl bye. I fucking hate this one almost as much as Sammi and Frank. Actually maybe more than Frank. Debbie had so much potential to be a fantastic, feminist, cool character and they just fucked her up so badly. What was with giving her a 20-year-old boyfriend when she was barely a teenager and then making her accidentally rape him? What a weird fucking plotline??? And then everything she did after that was just insane or fucking stupid. She's a terrible mother even though she thinks she's not and I feel bad for Franny. She's a terrible sister too, especially to Fiona. And randomly had her be extremely homophobic over her whole crisis about thinking she caught AIDS when she slept with a gay man which was the most bizarre addition to that plotline. They tried to appoint her as the head of the family and be Fiona 2.0 after Fiona left but she was always a bratty bitch so it didn't really work. I thought she and Sandy would be endgame (and that made me feel bad for Sandy because I actually liked her) and then at the last second they brought in a random ex-con that invites Debbie across the country to do some criminal shit and let her daughter tag along AND DEBBIE WAS CONSIDERING IT??? WHAT. W H A T. Awful mother, just Monica all over again except with excess mommy issues and less drugs. Her story ended so much worse than I could've imagined. I sincerely hope she does not stay together with Heidi and just... you know, has a total personality makeover and gets together with someone fucking normal that she isn't a dick to for a change. And if she's so desperate for Franny to have a big family, she can man-trap a few more random guys. audisghiijkof[dgj I just hate Debbie.

hate hate hate, double-hate, LOATHE ENTIRELY

CARL

I hated him at the start because he was a weird little bastard who also abused animals and it was just...? And then he got older and somehow did not turn into a serial killer and actually started being nice to animals (interesting turnaround that never got mentioned) but he also wanted to do army shit and I was just thinking great, another flag-shagger like his big bro. AND THEN HE WANTED TO JOIN THE POLICE. WHY. THIS CHILD SHOULD NOT HAVE A GUN. His story seemed to be going well in the final season where he was having this whole revelation that cops ain't shit and I thought he was gonna quit and make a big statement but then he just... didn't. AND THAT GIRL THAT RAPED HIM ACTUALLY DID GET PREGNANT WITH HIS KID? AND THE SHOW JUST GLOSSED OVER THAT? And apparently his future is for him to buy the Alibi with his co-worker and make it a cop bar? So garbage. I figure he's probably gonna get in touch with what's-her-face about their illegally conceived child but I don't have much other hopes for Carl. The writers did him mega dirty too. Not to mention, he already has two kids wandering around in the world from that time Frank literally stole his own son's sperm. HIS LIFE IS SO FUCKED UP.

LIAM

Liam was one of the best Gallaghers for years because he was a baby and did not speak. And then he got old enough to have proper plots and the writers had him "struggling with his identity as a young Black man in a white family" but it really... came to nothing? It didn't feel like that plot achieved anything for him personally, they just sort of... fucked around with his character because it seemed like they did not know what to do with him re: his huge age gap from the other siblings. And also, that opens up a massive can of worms because Liam is meant to be Frank's biological son, meaning ALL of the Gallagher kids are canonically mixed race regardless. Which was... a choice from the writers' room, I gotta say. Not a good one. Not a good one. But whatever. Liam was meant to be under the care of Fiona until he turned 18 which was conveniently forgotten about when Fiona left and I honestly think they should have had Liam leave with her because that just... would've saved some really boring, stupid plotlines from almost ruining his character. But they didn't so... whatever. I do like that Liam is going to live with Lip, Tami, and Fred. And their potential second child. That's a cute, satisfactory ending for him, at least. I also liked that Frank's "Ghost of Gallagher Future" was Liam in his Hall of Shame episode because we got a little snippet of how Liam's life will turn out as an adult, and in his own words, he's doing well for himself, and so are the other siblings. So I liked that too, knowing there's a little look into their future and it's bright despite everything.

And now, other characters. Fuck, there were so many.

KEVIN & VERONICA

LOVE THEM. LOVE THEM SO MUCH. They kept the show bearable after Fiona left. I loved their ending. Was really happy that they were moving somewhere close to V's mom and her brother-nephew Dominic and her other family, and obviously other Black people that V could relate to. Happy lil life with their daughters. Obviously I like to think Fiona will always keep in touch with them. Their storyline as a couple was the only one I was super happy with at the end lmao. Though personally I would've liked to see more of Kev visiting Dominic or like... mentioning that he was visiting Dominic or showing him having days out with Amy and Gemma. Like, yeah, it might be a weird dynamic because Kevin is his dad-uncle and Amy and Gemma are both half-sisters and cousins to him but it's very on par with what Shameless is like and Kev isn't the type to just abandon his son. So I would've liked to see more of that, but I also imagine they all become closer as a family by living right next to each other in this new chapter of their lives anyway.

CLYDE YOUENS

I liked Youens a lot! And I liked he and Lip's relationship. Probably the best father/son-type relationship Lip was ever going to get. I was genuinely gutted when Youens died, I wanted better for him and Lip needed him. Sad. But I loved that Lip named his son in honour of him.

JIMMYSTEVE

As stated, I loved JimmySteve. Hope he's good and less of an asshole. I do think he's a good person at heart. JimmySteve stans, where u at?

MANDY MILKOVICH

Remember her? Wild. I never much liked her, and she was kind of a psychopath, but also hope she's fine and doing better than when we last saw her getting out of an abusive relationship.

MICKEY MILKOVICH

Hated him to start with, then was kind of indifferent because he became the comedy relief of the show. He was funny and it was a nice change-up from all the drama; he does have some great one-liners that I genuinely laughed out loud at. But he was still dumb and racist and full of internalised homophobia by the time the finale came around and I feel like he and Ian are just not a good couple and the character development was just not there BUT WHATEVER. I feel like I may be burned at the Shameless stake for saying any of that because I cannot find anyone else on Tumblr that doesn't like him/doesn't ship him and Ian.

SANDY MILKOVICH

I loved Sandy and I'm glad she and Debbie broke up because Debbie is shit and Sandy deserves nice things. I hope one day she's maybe able to have a relationship with her son but overall I just liked her a lot and I think the writers did her dirty with having her just... break up with Debbie and leave. Like what was the point in her? She had potential. Her relationship with Debbie had potential, if Debbie didn't suck obviously.

SVETLANA YEVGENIVNA (& YEVGENY)

I both liked and disliked Svetlana. She had some bad takes but overall I really enjoyed her character, and the wild polyamorous relationship that she, Kev, and V had for a while. I guess we never really know 100% that Yevgeny is Mickey's son and then he never gets mentioned again after Svetlana remarries so... that's kind of annoying. It was laughable in the finale listening to Ian tell Mickey he would be a good dad. DID YOU FORGET YOU ALREADY HAD A SON? WHERE IS HE? If we know anything about Svetlana, though, she's gonna hustle and provide for her kid lmao.

SHEILA JACKSON (& KAREN... & JODY & HYMIE)

Sheila was the best. I kept hoping she would come back onto the show but it wasn't to be. I loved that she finally said fuck Frank and drove off in her big-ass RV to see the world like she wanted. I assume she ends up in Arizona so she can be close to Karen, Jody and Hymie (and I'm just gonna assume Karen and Jody got back together even though their relationship was really fucking weird from the get-go). I enjoyed the Jackson family's antics and I think Sheila was up there as a character I missed the most after she left. Second to darling Fiona obviously.

TAMI TAMIETTI

Is it not child abuse to name your daughter Tami if your last name is already Tamietti? Anyway, didn't like Tami to start with. She was another character that had a shitty attitude/bad takes that didn't seem to match the rest of her personality sometimes? But by the end of the show, she was probably one of the characters I liked the most. She had actual common sense and I wanted to bop Lip for her so many times. She was a good mom and I enjoyed her a lot and would still bop Lip for her no questions asked. Manz is dumb.

BRAD YOUNG (& CAMI)

As above, Cami Tamietti? Wtf. Anyway, I liked Brad, I liked his friendship with Lip. Glad that he's happy with his little family with Cami, but they're nothing on the baes Kev and V obviously.

ETHEL & MALIK (& JONAH & TAMIKA)

Ethel was a really interesting character and it always made me really sad she didn't get shown to get back in touch with Kevin and Veronica. So I like to think she and Malik are a happy little family with their kids and that she reaches out to Kev and V one day, 'cause I really think that would make Kevin in particular so happy to know how she and Jonah are doing, and to have a relationship with them all again.

TONY MARKOVICH

Remember Tony? I almost didn't until I was looking at a list of Shameless characters. I was most amused to find he ended up being gay sooooo wherever he's at, I hope he's thriving since he obviously got over Fiona lmao. It would've been kinda cool if he popped back up when Carl was entering the police force?

TREVOR

Would die for Trevor. Hope he's happy as can be. Ian missed out by screwing him over and I'll die on that hill.

That's all the significant characters that I really gave a shit about that I can think of.

THE PLOTS THEY SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN

This has been plaguing my brain for the entire final two seasons so now I gotta write down how I think their storylines should have went throughout the show. I don't care enough about it to turn it into fic, I just want to get it out my head.

So, I present, the storylines that EYE think should have happened instead of the trash that actually did happen.

FRANK

As much as I would've loved for him to die WAY SOONER, I guess the show and all their trauma and dramatic scenes wouldn't be as impactful without Frank there. Soooo his story can remain pretty much the same, have him die in the finale, but just... make the final season more painful! The way they all find out about his dementia, the way he dies! Make it hurt! He was the worst father but he was still their dad and they had some good times so it's gonna be a lot of mixed, painful emotions. SHOW THAT SHIT.

And also, don't make his actual cause of death be COVID. No COVID season!

I haven't thought it all through but just... a more harrowing storyline to play out for the family relating to Frank's ultimate demise.

FIONA

I don't know that I would change much about Fiona's plot... maybe less focus on the men in her life because she was always jumping from one relationship to another that always ended in tears and it didn't seem to serve her progression in any way. And less of her siblings treating her like straight-up trash.

Like I said before, I would've loved to see her and JimmySteve work out but I don't know if I necessarily needed to see this on screen? I don't know.

LIP

Okay. So, he has an affair with his professor (honestly she was a freak ew), he gets kicked out, he becomes an alcoholic, Youens gets him into rehab, that can all remain canon. He gets into fixing bikes as a hobby, meets Brad, meets Tami (earlier in the storyline, and maybe a slightly nicer version because they really had her acting like a whole bitch at the start and not in a fun way). BUT Lip was not only smart, he actually liked learning and thriving academically. And that college admissions dude way back in s1 or whatever told him don't get some girl knocked up and blah blah... and the writers have exactly that scenario happen to him. It's bullshit.

So, in my eyes, his goal would be to ultimately get back into college. Not only for himself but maybe for Youens too because he looked up to him. He spends a year or two fixing up bikes, volunteering, trying to make himself look like a respectable member of the community (with difficulties for Good Television(tm) because it's the Southside and he's a Gallagher). And he shows his college that he's done the work and that he'd like another chance, he can manage his anger, etc. And voila, he goes to college, completes a business degree or something that would open a lot of doors for him.

And in his final season, he's graduated and been offered a prestigious internship a couple of states over. So he and Tami are preparing to move. It's bittersweet and he's back and forth about it because he doesn't want to leave his siblings. But, then he mentions that he had a phonecall with Fiona (because she deserved to be more involved in the finale, let's be real) and that's what ultimately helps him realise he would be dumb not to take the internship. Then maybe a little line between Lip and Tami about how maybe they'll get married in a few years and have kids after he makes "lots of money." And they laugh and Lip's like, "Yeah, I'll give being a dad a go, can't be any worse than Frank." And they mention that they like the name Freddie - just so he gets a little mention since he ain't gonna be born during the run of the show lmao.

Ta-da, Lip's story makes more sense now.

IAN

I feel like it would be fine for everything in his life to remain canon up until he goes to prison (maybe add in some more outrage over his adult boss fucking him as a teenager though cos that was heavy creepy and nobody seemed super fussed about it).

I honestly think Mickey going to Mexico or wherever he ran away to should've been his exit from the show. So, that happens, bye Mickey.

Ian does the whole Gay Jesus episode, sure, but ultimately doesn't go to jail because he was, I don't know, off his meds at the time and it was a mental breakdown and he had a decent lawyer to plead that case (funded by savings from Trevor, which makes Ian realise Trevor really cares about him, because it was a chunk of the money that Trevor had squirrelled away in case he wanted to get bottom surgery at some point).

So Ian spends some time in the psych ward, has some community service hours, gets back on his medication and he's dandy.

Maybe Trevor keeps his distance during all of this because it's a Lot but Ian realises he's in love with him and ultimately strives to get him back.

They get back together, Ian's a little lost for a while personally because there's still residual online fame (and hate) from Gay Jesus and he doesn't know what he wants to do. I think it would've been ideal for him to then try to get his paramedic job back, or something similar (working in a care home? idk) because he enjoyed helping people and he was good at it. So he does that, feels more satisfied career-wise.

Ian's final season could have revolved somewhat around him deciding to connect with his biological father, Clayton Gallagher. Maybe this causes some tension and hurt feelings among his siblings because he actually ends up getting along really well with Clayton and it's healthy and the others don't have that with Frank. It all ends up working out, maybe Clayton says he would like to make more effort with his nieces and nephews too, whatever. Maybe this has the potential for a painful scene with Frank because he comes over and Clayton is there and Frank is confused and thinks Clayton is their father, and there's yelling and it's sad.

Ian's finale could involve him and Trevor planning to move in together, and Ian proposes to him, yaaaay. Gotta get a proposal in there since there won't be a queer wedding.

DEBBIE

Alright. Debbie's story, I would make completely different.

Starting with her not accidentally raping her adult boyfriend when she was a child and not man-trapping her age-appropriate boyfriend when she was also a child.

I'm gonna say she does get pregnant by accident while still at school and wants to keep it BUT. BUT. After her talks with Fiona and finding out Fiona is pregnant too, ultimately decides they should indeed get abortions together and it's nice and they bond. None of the bullshit pro-life idiot nonsense that actually happened.

So she graduates school with promising grades, and goes to her welding degree thingy (bring in plots about her feminism and fighting for equality in the workplace/class/overall desired profession). Starts having a sexuality crisis and thinks she might be a lesbian, and Ian is actually supportive towards her (unlike the canon (((((: but anyway) but he brings up that bisexuality is valid too.

So at age 19 or so, Debbie tries dating a man one more time to see how it goes. They have sex, it's fine, but she ultimately decides she doesn't really like it and decides she likes women only and that is that.

ENTER SANDY.

Now, side-note, Sandy coming in could create drama for Ian and Trevor because Ian asks if she knows how her cousin Mickey is doing and Trevor gets jealous/concerned about this, just as a sub-plot for an episode or two.

Anyway, Sandy and Debbie fall for each other really quickly, it's going great, Debbie's really happy despite being surprised she's fallen for a Milkovich. THEN, gasp, she realises she is pregnant from her date with that man and she considers aborting again but realises she can't go through with it a second time. Maybe the scene of her finding out ends with her calling Fiona and going, "Fiona, I'm pregnant again." And later mentioning to someone, "My sister really calmed me down and we talked about another abortion but I just can't do it again." Because, again, I want it shown that Fiona is still involved in their lives and loves them (and that they love and turn to her in times of need).

Anyway, it's a whole panic, she thinks Sandy will leave her (and in my timeline, Sandy isn't married with a kid of her own), and she doesn't know what might happen with welding school. But Sandy is actually really happy and says they will make it work. Debbie tells the father, maybe there's some drama there because he asks for a paternity test but ultimately ends up being supportive and says he will be involved.

In the canon timeline, Debbie seemed to name her daughter after Frank because he was the only one who was supportive of her pregnancy. This time around, so that Franny can keep her name, let's say it's because she goes into labour in the finale and gives birth shortly before Frank dies. So Debbie names her daughter Frances 'Franny' Fiona Gallagher.

Maybe she and Sandy already live together by this point because they wanted their own place before the baby came, and Debbie's worked it out with school somehow.

TA-DA. A much more likeable Debbie.

CARL

Carl... I don't know, man. I would probably change almost everything about Carl's personality because wtf but just so I'm not entirely redoing his character from day one, let's his say his life pans out pretty much the same (maybe minus the animal abuse bc I am a big baby, and minus Frank STEALING HIS SPERM AND MAKING ACTUAL BABIES WITH IT). Except, in his final season, he's on this journey of realising cops ain't shit (and let's also say, to get around a plot-hole, that he's on, like, a junior training course that allows young people the chance to potentially become officers when they're of age). And he realises he doesn't want to be a cop any more because it's kinda bullshit, but he wanted to do it for a long time so he's struggling with just walking away. AND THIS IS WHERE TONY COULD COME IN. Carl talks to Fiona on the phone about it and Fiona suggests he ask Tony why he became a cop because Tony was one of the few nice ones. So Carl tracks down Tony and it turns out Tony's not a cop any more either so that conversation plus seeing more racial injustice and a shitty attitude towards poor people from his co-workers has Carl feeling really down about his career choice. Maybe he sees one of his superiors cussing out a young Black boy on the Southside that reminds him of Liam and Carl steps in, enraged, and that solidifies his decision to quit. And his final episode is him like... getting involved in local community work and an organisation for minorities, and maybe he gets advice from Trevor and it links into what Trevor does, so they're gonna cross paths frequently in their jobs. And in the process of selling the Gallagher home, Carl's not sure where he's gonna live and Trevor and Ian invite him to live with them. Or Debbie and Sandy. One of them.

LIAM

Liam should've went with Fiona when she moved away to Florida. She was still his legal guardian, it would've made sense, and it would've saved Liam from some really ridic plots in the final seasons. However... even if Fiona couldn't come back for the finale, maybe they could've had Liam back visiting and he gets into some funny antics. I don't know.

And then I haven't really thought through the final scene or where Frank's death would fit in or anything but I thought it would be entertaining and fitting if, right after they manage to sell the house, there's an accident and it goes up in flames. Still parallels the first episode but it's a climactic end, they all are devastated at first and then find it really funny. Maybe Frank's body is inside! Who knows! They FaceTime Fiona to show her and it's just a lot of yelling and laughing and there's no insulting Frank voiceover.

And just... obviously more sibling interaction and love throughout all of this. That's what I needed to see!!!

I'm done now.

[tartagilicious]

snezhnaya does not believe in broken hearts > childe

→ pov: there is no pov i’m in love with another fictional man. I’m a little rusty writing wise because of school, but someone said childe enemies to lovers and who i am i to say no to that 🥴 so, here’s his boss battle with a ✨twist✨

→ ib: this comic on twt, pls go support it i love it and cry whenever someone mentions it. also, like the comic, childe’s delusion form won’t have a mask just so it’s easier to write his expressions!

→ *there are a good amount of lines that are taken directly from his battle in the game, so beware of detailed spoilers!

You can trust him. But, don’t get too involved. The battle he pursues is dangerous; it’s not something a normal person can withstand.

Whether you realised it or not, every moment you had spent with him began to carve out a hole in your chest, bittersweetly wearing away every layer of protection you had unconsciously built up. It wasn’t a well-done job by any means; the edges it left were particularly jagged, but the softness Childe still managed to pull from them left you stunned every time it chose to peek its head out.

“Don’t be so on edge, we’re friends, aren’t we?”

It suddenly became a daily routine to expect him at some point, whether it entailed him coming upon you doing a commission in the middle of the mountains, or you crossing paths in Liyue while some type of street food balanced precariously in his grip.

Yet, what you failed to notice was that most times, he would take care to place another of the same delicacy into your hand, as if expecting to see you. Childe would meet you in the middle of the mountains not by chance, but rather by a sense of curious boredom, wherein your company was the only suitable way to pass the time.

Subsequently, the only question remaining in a scenario such as this, was what the other meant to each of them — were you truly able to push your obligations aside, or were you only getting close enough to have enough leverage to strike?

On any occasion a disarming laugh left his mouth, or he lent you his support without question, you failed to remember that you were pitched as enemies in the first place. You inevitably no longer felt the same wariness towards the harbinger over time, but it only made you that much more guilty to know just how easily you had begun to trust him.

Yet no matter the hopeful sentiments your sputtering heart provided you, you knew one thing to be true that would always remain so: you would never be on the same side.

“You’ve already fulfilled your task as guide, so why do you still linger here? Haven’t you already seen enough trouble for today?”

You had entered the Golden House apprehensively, perhaps hoping even over the Exuvia’s safety that you wouldn’t meet him there. But coming upon it and hearing the one voice you had been dreading, you begrudgingly came to terms with the fact that you would have to face reality eventually.

“Huh?” Paimon is startled by the sudden disembodied voice. “Who’s there?!”

Childe reveals himself by coming up the stairs you had just now ascended, his saunter maddeningly casual. “If you were Fatui, I imagine that you would be entitled to a generous reward from the Tsaritsa yourself.”

The way he tilts his head with such fake amiability grates across you like nails on a chalkboard. “But now you’re nothing but dross -- and you’re in my way.”

“It looks like I was just in time, then.”

Childe laughs. “Although I’m deeply grateful to you for helping me so effortlessly find this secret location… don’t you think that trying to stop me now would only be a wasted effort?”

“Stopping the mora mints, hiding away the Exuvia,” He laughs again, and your hand instinctively makes a small stretch for your weapon. “And sending you. The Qixing are really pulling out all the stops this time.”

“So you were planning to take the gnosis all along?” You ask flatly, your words swallowed by your own hesitation just after you’d barely gotten out the last word. Even though this mishap wasn’t very detectable, shame burns the back of your throat at the honesty of the reflex.

“As one of the Eleven Fatui Harbingers, it’s my duty to see the will of the Tsaritsa fulfilled. And she will get which she desires.”

You shake your head, fully grounding your hand and preparing to draw your sword. “Not if I don’t allow you to get near the Exuvia.”

“I’m not looking for your blessing, ___.” Childe narrows his eyes and takes note of this action, the implications of it drawing up a wanton sense of disappointment he had long been expecting. This varies little from your own dismay, unbeknownst to him. “There’s nothing you could do to stop me anyways.”

“The time for discussion and diplomacy has already long passed. I mean, if it were up to me, I would have skipped that stage to begin with… but, I’m willing to do as the Tsaritsa deems fit.”

“Either way,” An eyebrow arches as an equally intrigued smile pulls at the corner of his lips. “It seems we’re now coming upon my favourite part --  a simple pleasure, and one that I am oh-so delighted to be sharing with you.”

it’s as if a pin drops, and he grins. “The battle.”

You now stand at a fork. Two paths stare at you with expectant eyes, both equally enticing; but the drawbacks of the indulgent solution unfortunately long outweigh those of their obvious counterpart. It’s a decision that must be made on behalf of Liyue, not the hurt of a single heart.

Paimon scoffs, drawing you from your thoughts. “So you’re the type that goes looking for trouble, huh?”

Childe’s laughter rings out, and he throws his head back as if he had heard something particularly funny. “I guess you could say that!”

“When Signora offended the deities outside of the cathedral in Mondstadt, she swiftly left the scene once her mission was accomplished. Instead of confronting you directly, she chose to rely on the snow and ice to make an escape.”

“I would take that as far more than its face value. When she faces a worthy opponent, she will prioritise her mission, weigh the outcomes, and consider the consequences of her actions…” He explains, trailing off with an inexplicable smile. “But as for me, the greatest pleasure of being a harbinger lies in the opportunities I have to cross blades with such opponents.”

“That doesn’t mean we’ll let what happened in Mondstadt ever happen again.”

“Oh? So you do intend to fight me? Good.” Childe’s excitement baffles you and pumps adrenaline into your veins simultaneously. “I won’t kill you, ___, I’ll just play along. To feel the thrill of battle!”

“Besides,” He puts his hands out in an aimless gesture. “You could never defeat me, not even in your wildest dreams. But hey, try to relish in the fight anyways, because if you ask me… without that, what else is there?”

“I could never defeat you?!” His words get the better of you and you laugh in disbelief. “You’re completely delusional.”

He returns the laugh delightedly, igniting a fire of mixed emotions in your chest. “Fighting talk, I love it! Now, let’s see you live up to it.”

You draw your sword at the drop of his last word, taking a step back in preparation for what was to come. Childe, meanwhile, stands watching you with a brewing sensation of glee.

“This chance isn’t easy to come by, so show me all you’ve got.” Arrows infused with water begin to fly in your direction, though you avoid them in haste. “So very few ever get the chance to square off with a Fatui Harbinger, so come now, amuse me. And don’t you dare disappoint.”

You find yourself gritting your teeth at the arrogant words, taken aback at his challenging tone. “You say your colleague has found me praiseworthy, but tell me to only amuse you? That’s a disappointing downgrade.”

A lapse in the time Childe has to shoot gives you enough time to approach him, throwing out a strike of your sword that he catches with his own weapon moulded by water.

“It’s by no means an insult, ___, I’m merely proposing a challenge.” He looks at the way your blades grit against each other and grins. “And it seems you’ve accepted it.” You jump back with the force of his attack to propel yourself. A barrage of geo-aligned magic is summoned beneath your opponent with a stomp to the marble floor.

However, he sidesteps it in a similar fashion, and through a quick exchange of harsh blows, both of you stand back to scope things out. Still, the one aspect that continues to overshadow the rest of your thoughts is the way that Childe’s personality has changed under the scrutiny of battle.

The playful tone he normally sports is long gone, now replaced with a deeper and more realistic one; perhaps even slightly more menacing. It’s as if he’s been flipped into a completely different person.

He laughs maniacally as he uses his hydro vision to drive waves of water out towards you, fully intent on at least knocking you off your feet. The burst of elemental energy ends when Childe leaps back onto the ground. This gives you the leverage you need to go in with another geo attack, this time catching him off guard and launching him to the side.

Childe coughs at the force of the action, his lips curving up into a smile. “Good! No wonder signora was so wary of you.”

His body is encased in an impenetrable bubble of water in an instant, a flash of deep light lashing out from the centre before revealing Childe once again. His swords of water have since been infused by electro energy, and his clothes are darker -- the most noticeable difference, however, is the Fatui mask that had previously been slung over his hair now laid properly over his face.

“Well, that just means I can go all out! Brace yourself, this is about to get tough…” He takes a few preliminary steps. “Show me what you can do against the might of a Harbinger!”

The strikes do indeed get faster. Childe toughens up against seemingly every one of your attacks, dodging most if not all of with even more ease than before. you grit your teeth as you rush to keep up with the frequent blows thrown at you. But, in a panic and reflexive drawback, you retract your sword and desperately block with your arm instead.

Silence entraps the incredibly large room as your sword clatters noisily to the floor. Both the cloth running up the expanse of your arm and wrist piece are slashed considerably, all to reveal a shallow but long gash.

The sensation of electro wastes little time in taking effect, burning up your arm and inducing an inevitable cry of pain as both of you take a step back. Malleable emotion hangs in the heavy atmosphere, waiting to be addressed or otherwise plucked down from their higher place.

Though, his reaction in that split second shows that he might not be just as lost as you’d thought.

Childe has little courage to speak up on any of these topics, but in whatever way he chooses to ignore the berating voice in his head, he can’t push away the sensation of regret swimming in his chest. Watching your face briefly contort in pain you try so hard to hide, yet standing close and being unable to do anything about it -- it’s more real than any understating word his brain could ever feed him.

“What are you doing just standing there?” You suddenly taunt, your voice slightly hoarse as you turn to hide the blood that seeps into your clothing. “I thought you said that you were going to go all out.”

Childe knows that you're right. He had said that, but what would it mean for him to continue? Brawling with you brought the same drunkening high of adrenaline he’s been chasing since he escaped from the abyss all those years ago-- although hurting you wasn’t any sort of intention he’d ever had.

“...I’m only offering a moment to buffer, but I must say -- you’re not bad. Your swordsmanship is quite impressive.” Childe desperately swallows back anything extra that pops into his head and twirls his electrified staff. Personal desires are the last thing he can afford to pay attention to. “But, that’s about as far as you’ll get.”

You sloppily intercept a rough attack that threatens to send you flying backwards, gritting your teeth as you push back with the force of your Anemo power. It goes well for all but the way your arm begins to falter under the stress. Your head naturally follows your body’s trajectory, yet in your panic, the stroke your toed boot makes across the floor leaves a trail of blistering geo behind.

The elements present react immediately, resulting in a blinding explosion. You’re thrown off too quickly and land unsteadily, pain shooting up your arm as you exhale shakily -- you’d never had the misfortune of experiencing a hydro and electro vision working together before now.

“___, are you okay?” Paimon asks frantically, your tiny hands trying their best to locate the heart of the wound on your injured arm. “That cut looks deep, do you really think it’s a good idea to keep pushing yourself?”

You shake your head in dismissal as your eyes move with the clearing dust. “It’s fine, but my sword--?”

Once the haze disperses, you spot your sword almost instantly -- however, you also find Childe’s staff sticking haphazardly into the marble floor right next to it, its owner nowhere to be found.

A laugh sounds from behind you. “I really didn’t think you had that card hidden up your sleeve!”

Your heart drops into your stomach when you whip around to see Childe standing beside Rex Lapis’ corpse, his grin wide like he’d already won the match between you.

“You were just playing us to get close to the Exuvia!”

“Oh, quiet down. Don’t be so quick to judge. You’ve seen this world, you of all people should know...” Childe steadily gathers a ball of electro energy in his palm, the lightning fusing around his gloved hand before materialising. “That this should have been expected!”

The sound is deafening as Childe forces his hand into the Exuvia, opposing elements colliding and responding in turn. “I’ll be taking Morax’s gnosis now!”

Shockwaves come out like tides as the entire room shakes under the pressure of the single action. You’re quick to shield your injured arm from the battering wind, while Paimon latches onto the ornament covering your elbow.

Yet, much to everyone’s surprise, the hand that emerges and unfolds under the glaring light is very much empty.

Childe is taken aback by the particles of light that float from his gloved hand, laughing in frustration as well as bewilderment. “I see. Well, this is most unexpected.”

He turns to look at you through his mask, taking in the equally as surprised expression that moulds your features. But the detail that begins to surface ignites a different, and entirely real type of irritation in him, is the way that your eyes begin to change.

“Morax’s gnosis is far from another old antique,” Ningguang had prefaced this when you had visited her in the Jade Chamber, her words stable and forward. “It is a sign of Liyue’s reigning power, and also a symbol for the people to look towards; as not only a god, but also the keeper of peace. This is not something that would be hidden carelessly.”

“Many people throughout my years as a Qixing have tried to outsmart the layers close to the gnosis, however, none have succeeded. Its protector is someone of utmost secrecy whose identity I must not reveal, not even to you.”

She had sighed, placing a warm yet distant smile on her face. “But, I believe this method will continue to deter unwanted hands, along with you in their capable stead.”

Your eyes widen as you take an instinctual step back. You’d found it nearly impossible when tasked with feeding the Harbinger outdated details, though your heart feels heavy in realising that it had gone to show how much Childe truly did learn to trust you.

But, it had worked, hadn’t it? Because of this, the exuvia was somewhere far away -- in capable hands, as Ningguang had phrased it. Yet you feel little want to celebrate this small victory, immediately reminded of the situation it’s caused as Childe’s vision flares up around him, warping his figure in your eyes.

“You… You beat me to it, didn’t you?” Childe doesn’t miss your sense of victory being quickly replaced by fear, but in a fit of irritation, he takes no time in disregarding it.

He leaps haphazardly into the centre of the room, forcing you to careen out of the way as his electro vision fries the air around you. It becomes stuffy and unbearably hot in the enclosed space entirely too quickly. But, throughout the sudden drastic change in their atmosphere, you can’t help but notice the second transformation that Childe has gone through; yet rather this time, it’s much more drastic.

Once the air dissipates, Childe leaps back to the floor once again, his heavy military boots marking his step indefinitely. The attire he wears is fittingly close to armour -- presenting a deep blue and purple suit that fits like a second skin.

“Not a bad trick,” His spear of water that had since been lodged in the marble floor flies into his hand, twirling to rest on his shoulder as his voice stabilises. “But, this is going to cost you!”

The same weapon is pushed into the ground with overflowing destructive power. It quickly runs veins out like web beneath your feet, electro charge roughly and abruptly breaking the floor to reveal another space below.

You're dragged down indiscriminately amongst the falling debris, roughly colliding with the sharp edges before hitting the ground once again. Your arm, still slightly bleeding and swollen, screams at the harsh impact. Though having landed on your stomach meant that other parts of your body had absorbed most of the shock, natural reflexes had forced you to receive some of the heavier damage in your arm regardless.

There wasn’t a lot that you could do about this, however, other than pick yourself up again and hope that Childe was still too high up to see your pain clearly. Thankfully, lo and behold, a purple light just then begins to descend almost hauntingly through the smoke. It blinks out briefly before revealing Childe again as every messy part of the room is blown away by an incredible elemental power.

You hold up your uninjured arm to combat against the strong wind, wincing as your body is forced back.

“You got to the gnosis ahead of me, didn’t you?” Childe’s staff finally rests in his hand, however, the aura he gives off alone is enough to make you antsy. “Did you simply move faster? Or… did you leak the information regarding the Golden House to me on purpose?”

“...You’ve outsmarted me, ___. But that doesn’t mean the information won’t be in my hands by the time we’re done.” Another electric current fills the room as he moves to make an attack. “So, fight hard knowing there's something of such value on the line.”

Your eyes flicker around the room for your sword as you say, “How do you know that I have any of the information you need? That’s betting a lot on nothing.”

He laughs, the familiar sound chilling.

“You don’t have to be omnipotent to take a best guess. Besides, I’m confident enough in knowing that you’re smart enough to play me, so a battle between friends to determine that isn’t too much of a stretch, is it?”

You spot the sword and take a hesitant step towards it, attempting to return his words as a distraction. “It’s strange to call me a friend and threaten to put a knife in my chest in the same sentence. I thought you said that you weren’t going to kill me?”

Childe pauses, debating his next words carefully. “...Conditions are ever-changing.”

“If they were going to change so drastically, you should have told me earlier. Maybe then I could’ve figured out how to explain something I don’t know the answer to.”

“Don’t play dumb with me, ___.” His delusion’s deeper tone makes even the most playful of his words sound threatening. You stand your ground, though, knowing that no matter what your apprehension presents, nothing will change the fact that your weapon is only a mere step away.

“I know that you can tell me.”

You know I can? The supposedly comforting statement bounces around in your head, creating a ringing in your ears and a painful drumming against your temples. It’s not that simple, you think. There's little he wouldn’t be able to get from you if gone about the right way, however, as long as the information remained important, it would stay unattainable to even him.

You grit your teeth, feet twisting boldly into a position that’ll make it easier to leap in the direction you need. “I won’t tell you anything,” The leap is short and filled with almost too much strength, but you make up for any shortcomings by turning to block the incredibly close blow Childe had thrust out to stop you.

You push your sword against his with the force of all of your irritation, jaw clenched as your words come out in a single breath. “Because I know that I don’t have anything to say to the person that betrayed me.”

Unsurprisingly, words like those are some of the last that Childe wants to hear at that moment. No amount of guilt tripping or humiliation was typically enough to get to him, however, your simple declaration hits him in a spot that he’s long tried to bury.

Childe scoffs, pretending that he hadn’t blatantly hesitated. “You’re not fit to be here if you’re shaken by the betrayal of someone like me. Take it from me and give up while you’re ahead.”

You’re stunned by Childe’s brutal words for a brief moment, leaving him an important window to more easily knock your weapon away, out of your weakened hands. His blade meets your throat with little hesitation, the cool water stinging against your overheated skin.

Childe’s eyes wander to the way your body turns slightly to protect your injured arm, and disregarding the way his stomach twists, he shakes his head. “What’s wrong, ___? The way you are now won’t be able to defeat me.”

He looks at the way you hesitate and the already putrid feeling in his gut turns rotting. You make no more effort to fight back despite your strength, nor move the weapon lying firmly right over one of your weakest points.

“I might end up killing you if you don’t tell me where the gnosis is.” Childe tries to push you further, but is taken aback when your brows knit as if frustrated. You know very well that he’s someone with bad intentions, yet why do you continue to yearn to see the good in him? To see the carefree person you’d known before today?

You don’t respond, unmoving beneath his heavy gaze for all but the way your hands begin to slowly hover up towards the sword pressuring your neck.

Why can’t you stop?

Your shaking hands take the blade lightly in your grip, the vision-adjacent water searing your battered skin. A droplet of sweat slides down your cheek yet all you can focus on is the way Childe’s eyes instantly delve into panic.

“If you’re going to kill me, you should hurry up and save us both the suffering.”

The sudden powerful statement sounds unreal coming from such a weakened person, blood running down your fingers as you force his sword away.

“What makes you think that your death would cause me any harm?” Childe’s heart thumps wildly beneath his clothes as he lets his weapon be redirectioned, but his brows furrow. “I used you. Do you have yet to realise that?”

“You think I’m so inept that I would believe in someone so fast?” Your fingers go to nestle in the fabric of your skirt, the clothing acting as a temporary shield from the pain. “It was no secret that you weren’t someone to be trusted.”

“Then why lead me here if you’re so confident in yourself? Surely you don’t think that picking a fight with me was a sound idea?”

“You came here yourself. I was never looking to fight.” You mumble truthfully, taking your hand away from your skirt to reveal your palms stained with blood. “...I only said what I did because I don't like hurting those I care about.”

Childe stands paralysed in shock upon hearing such honest words, his mouth opening and closing as he rushes to process their meaning. What could he possibly say to that?

You hadn’t left a single mark on him despite believing that you were fighting for your life, whereas he had prioritised outside matters over listening to his internal backlash -- he had hurt you in a simple twisted warning.

“___, you--”

He’s barely able to get a sentence out before you sigh, going up to him with little hope before wrapping your arms around him.

Childe exhales unsteadily, his weapons then evaporating as his torso and arms instinctively straighten up. Moments of complete stillness go by unhindered. But, you wait patiently for any type of response from the man in your arms.

“...___.” He finally mumbles this from above your head, voice incredibly soft. “What do you think you’re doing?”

You’re at a loss as for how to respond, because truthfully -- the answer is mostly lost even to you. All you can do is drown in the silence that you’ve created, heart picking out the worst parts of the way his posture stays tense.

Childe groans abruptly, his delusion slowly beginning to break down to reveal his normal clothes. “Come on,”

As if something restricting him had suddenly been removed, he staggers and sinks to his knees, body going limp at the sudden lapse in support of his vision. Though fortunately, you follow him even while he goes down.

Your arms struggle to support the sudden weight as his chin lulls forward, colliding with your shoulder just as your knees hit the floor. He’s not entirely weak, you think, noticing the way he purposely tries to shift a lot of pressure off of you. Though you don’t know much about his delusion, it seems viable to assume that the form had just exhausted a decent amount of energy.

You feel the heat of his hands hesitantly coming upon your sides, but much to your disappointment, they quickly retract before he mumbles, “You’re a fool.”

“I know.” You whisper. “But, it’s too late. I can’t give up on you now.”

Childe scoffs, the sound muffled by your shoulder as he brings his arms up around you. He embraces you so tightly that it’s as if you’ve struck something inside him.

Those words are so unfair, they almost give me hope.

[hereliesanotherfic]

Albert James Moriarty x Reader

A/N: Just a little drabble, nothing too intense. More an admiration for our handsome Albert ^^ But I hope to write more for Yuukoku no Moriarty! I just got into the anime so I know nothing of the manga. So in this fic, I had to make up an aristocrat family/servants. The more I learn of the series I might not have too! xD Let me know what you think!

Rating: PG 13 (probably) Triggers:

(Mentions of) Family member death, thoughts of suicide,

(Actions of) Murder but no heavy details.

You weren’t anything special to the world, or at least never felt like it for a long time. You had ‘worked’ for a wealthy family in Durham for more than 5 years now and most of your work was shared with your older brother. You haven’t been allowed to see him lately though, and it was concerning. He began to fall ill, and you did your best to care for him after serving all your duties to the family. But it’s been a long…long time since you’ve seen his face now, almost a year. The Lord of the house, Lord Vincent told you not to concern yourself and they had a handled on it, but over the time those words have been of no comfort. The fact that you cannot see your brother after so long makes you fear something awful has happened. After all, the noblemen and family weren’t the kindest to lower class like yourself. You’ve gotten smacked and hit, drinks thrown at you, belittled, and shamed beyond what is humane. Your only string to life is that your brother might truly be alive and struggling, but you’ve never felt a depression and despair this deep before.

At this moment, you were on your hands and knees scrubbing the dining room floor, the maids setting a table fit for five. You overheard Lord Vincent had invited some noblemen who were new to the area over for a feast, and once the reply came back, he demanded all get to work in preparations. The butler had stepped in, clapping his hands. “Alright, quickly now, clean up and make yourselves presentable, they will be here shortly!” You placed your sponge in the bucket and hurried it to the washroom. Racing back, you stood in your spot at the end of the line of maids, brushing out your uniform of wrinkles or dirt. The butler scanned down all three maids, his eyes scowling at you. The butler was a bit of a prick like the noblemen, he had no respect for you since you were on the bottom of the barrel. You looked to your feet, wishing for nightfall to come so you could sleep again.

“Come with me,” you heard Lord Vincent cheer and you dared to glance up at the guests. First was a very tall, slender brunette with gorgeous green eyes and a strong jawline. Following him were two blondes, striking ruby red eyes, a little more build but just as attractive. You quickly stared back down at your feet, praying you weren’t caught by anyone in the room. If Lord Vincent or his mistress found out you were eyeing the guests it’d mean another punishment. Your food, injuries, sanity? They liked to change it to see how far your threshold could go.

As proper maids do, you each stepped up to a chair to pull it out for the noblemen. You weren’t sure if you were lucky or doomed to seat the brunette. Allowing him to sit and then aid pushing his chair in, he glanced over his shoulder to you and your peripheral vision could see his small smile. Without thinking, your eyes looked up and locked to his, which made his own eyes soften slightly. You immediately looked back down to the floor and took your place back to the side of the room. It was only an interaction of maybe 5 to 10 seconds, but it felt so impressionable. You admired how his tux made his shoulders and back a bit broader, whatever fancy cologne he was wearing was practically intoxicating, and his eyes and smile could get you dangerously lost. It wasn’t often young noblemen appeared, and now you were glad they didn’t.

The five aristocrats talked and ate the delicious food. You never really knew what the foods were or how to cook them, but it always looked mouthwatering. Time seem to go faster today, but you felt it was because of that damn brunette. You locked his image to his voice after threatening another glance, his voice smoothing through the conversations like melted butter. In a moment, you heard the famous finger snap of the Lord, signaling for places and leftovers to be cleared from the table. As a good maid, you took action and stood besides the brunette, clearing his space leaving no crumb behind. You felt eyes on you, but you couldn’t tell if it was him, or the Lord on your left side. You did every mental trick in your mind to not be too nervous. But it was already failing you.

“Your maid seems unsteady, Lord Vincent, is she alright?” the blonde you learned to be William spoke. He was across the table but he still noticed the slight tremors in your fingers? What the hell?! You stood straight with your couple plates and cups and looked to Lord Vincent, who looked pleased, but you saw his little ticks to know well enough, he was pissed.

“Do not fret about the service Lord Moriarty! She has been failing my family repeatedly, so a change has been due for a while now.”

…What?

“It’s so hard these days to find high class maids,” his wife sighed loudly, a look of disgust lingering on your backside.

You heartrate increased dramatically while your skin paled. You slightly bowed to excuse yourself from the conversation (even though you were just the topic) and headed towards the kitchen to dispose of the plates. You practically dropped them in the skin and held onto the counter. Your suspicions about them killing off bad service wasn’t just a rumor, it was true! You knew now because you were next! Your brother—you had to find a way to get out and save your brother! …

Your eyes started to water at the realization. ‘They had a handle on it’, in aristocrat terms, in the Vincent family terms, they eliminated him. And dragged you on to play the fool believing your brother was alive just to suck out whatever they could from you. You dropped to your knees as your tears poured, fingertips turning while you still gripped the counter above you. And the thought of joining your brother now…maybe he would forgive you if you join him for letting him die.

“Why are you crying?” a voice behind you spoke softly, startling you out of your self-pity and turning around instantly. To your utter shock, it was Lord Albert James Moriarty, and he was less than two feet from you, one hand outstretches as if to catch you.

You harshly wipe the tears from your face and eyes with your sleeve, standing up as quickly as physically possible and giving your uniform a couple messy pats, yabbering your apologizes as if your ending life still depended on it. “I am so very sorry Lord Moriarty, you should never have seen me in such array. Please forgive my improper-ness.” You didn’t know where to look, what to do with your hands, your anxiety was eating you alive! So you did your only method, stare at the floor with your head down and grip your uniform, your hair falling slightly forward as it was falling out of its bun. You could feel your body shaking and tried to stop it, your embarrassment eating you up on the inside for making a fool of yourself in front of not just a Lord, but a handsome one at that. He couldn’t have been more than a couple years older than you, and he could be placed in a museum and you were the cement floor.

“Please, don’t be afraid of me,” Albert begged softly, the gentleness of his voice being completely unexpected. You felt his large hand wrap around one of your clenched ones, making you remove your grip from your dress and be held in his hand. In the same moment, his other hand swooped under your jaw gently and lifted your face to look at him, swiping the (still) falling tears with his thumb. He locked his eyes with you (e/c) ones, a small smile came back to grace his lips. Just as you feared, you fell into a trance. You felt his other thumb rubbing small circles in your hand as he spoke his velvet words again.

“Come, it’s time to leave,” he hummed, closing his hand fully around yours before turning and heading out of the kitchen. You immediately started to panic at the though of Lord Vincent seeing the guest of honor so close to you, let alone touching you or speaking to you.

“L-l-l-lord Moriarty, I can’t do—this isn’t rig-okay, I mean!—” You choked to find the words, not wanting to offend him in any way, but terrified of not stopping him before re-entering the dining room like this. His grip was strong and you couldn’t pull back more than he pulled forward. He stopped for a moment and chuckled, looking over his shoulder to you with a smile and slender eyes.

“Do not worry about that miss, Lord Vincent has no more hold over you.” And he continued walking. You had no idea what that meant, but you were about to find out.

After he pulled you through the doors into the dining room, the sight was appalling. The head Maid was sobbing on the floor, a bloody knife fallen from her bloody hand. Lying hunched dead over the table were the Lord and his mistress, each suffered one to three stab wounds. The smell of all this blood was too strong and you covered your mouth with your hand. Before you could take in any more of the messy scene, Albert was already dragging you along outside, the two blonde brothers finishing up inside with the maid. You were practically speechless.

“L-..Lord Moriarty?” you said just above a whisper as he opened the door to his luxury carriage, looking at you. “…What’s happened?”

“Lord Vincent and his wife have both paid their debt for the slaughter of lower class servant workers, that’s all,” he stated matter-of-factly. Your eyes widened at his words, but they were soft. How did another aristocrat family know of this, not to mention care?

“We in the Moriarty family are…different,” he chuckled, before stepping to the side. “Please, hop in.”

“Why?” You asked, forgetting for a moment he was a nobleman.

“I’d like to give you some time to think if you’d like to be a maid for our family, or if you’d like to start a new life elsewhere. In the meantime, I can provide you a safe place to stay.”

You cheeks reddened slightly at the word ‘I’ and he must’ve caught on, closing his eyes for a brief moment before looking back into yours. If it wasn’t so dark out, you could’ve confirmed or not if he was blushing a bit too.

“We, my brothers and I,” he corrected, and motioned you into the carriage. At this point, your former Lord was dead, you brother was dead and you had little hope immediately on the street. Maybe serving the handsome Albert James Moriarty wasn’t such a bad deal after all. Especially if they are taking away some of the scum of the world.

Albert couldn’t have been more pleased when you stepped inside the carriage. This operation William put together has been brewing for a few months. Truth be told, Albert has seen you more than a couple times, but he’s never interacted with you since that wasn’t part of the plan. It was obvious to William you were being tricked, and your heavy depression blocked your brain from the truth. Only once you feel your life was truly on the line would you snap out of it. Albert was just as happy as his brothers to save another lower-class citizen from harm. Not to mention Louis lightly teasing him about keeping his eyes on you a little too much.

[nct-oli]

IPYTM EP 4

I just feel like saying all of my IPYTM ep 4 thoughts now that I watched the episode, before I read any other posts on here. Raw thoughts minutes after closing the episode.

I feel like I need to say this first. I do not agree with Oh reading Teh’s logbook and invading his privacy, but I do appreciate that he told him later that he did. I also do not like the hitting Teh with the bouquet. Okay, just wanted to get that out of the way.

TEH (AND JAI)

I’m still mad at Teh. I do not forgive him. But I do want to say that Jai is a piece of shit for manipulating Teh the way he did. This episode made it so clear to me how Jai used what Teh wrote in that logbook to his gain, recognizing how vulnerable Teh was and seeing how weak his relationship with Oh-Aew had gotten and using that to his benefit.

Now honestly, I can’t tell if that truly was his plan from the start or if he saw the way Teh had fallen for him and what happened with Oh and decided to say that it was never real in an attempt to stop it as soon as possible.

Regardless, if he was a good friend as well as a good director, Jai would never have used Teh’s broken relationship the way he did. He could have tried to help Teh rekindle things with Oh, work through some of his fears and anxieties that were keeping him from feeling close to his boyfriend. That very likely could have solved both problems–Teh’s relationship issues and his acting barrier–but instead, Jai manipulated Teh’s feelings.

However, I’m not letting Teh off that easily either. There was a moment when I actually did feel a little bad for him, when I started to recognize how Jai was using him and playing with his feelings. And when Teh and Oh started doing a little better, I allowed myself to think that maybe they could figure it out with more communication.

But no, Teh wandered off at the after party to see Jai, and any tiny flicker of forgiveness I felt went out the door. The way he showed no genuine guilt or shame with Oh too made me honestly sick. Like Oh said, did he think he was stupid? Did Teh think he was being subtle? It gave me secondhand embarrassment to see him believe he was being anything except disgustingly obvious about what was going on.

And then for him to call Jai the Fang to his Akin, with his too-forgiving boyfriend sitting in the other room?? Again, do you have no shame, Teh???

Also, the way Jai and Teh both gaslit Oh-Aew, trying to make him think he was overreacting and overthinking when both of them knew Teh’s feelings were not just the result of his great acting. That the kiss was never just an exercise (at least from Teh’s side, which is the side that mattered most). Watching them both lie to Oh’s face like that lit a rage fire within me.

Now, the scene of Oh-Aew and Teh singing on stage and the music going quiet as Teh’s attention drifted from Oh to Jai was heartbreaking in a really good way. I’m so proud of Oh-Aew for finally deciding that moment was enough, that Teh deserved no more chances, and that he needed to walk away. I’m so proud of him for choosing himself.

I appreciate Teh’s roommate. I don’t have the sympathy in me at this very moment so soon after the episode to wish Teh such kindness, but I’m sure tomorrow morning I’ll be a little more open to him having the emotional support I know deep down he needs. So I’m glad he has his roommate extending a hand.

And it was incredibly sad to watch Teh realize how he’d isolated himself to the extreme all for this one dream, maybe forgetting along the way to dream about his relationship with Oh-Aew, his long term friendships, etc. All of the other dreams you can and should have as well. I think he started to realize everything he’d given up for acting and how less glamorous and fun it really was now that he was here.

And that hit him even more when he got casted and potentially signed, only to face the reality that it also meant erasing the digital footprint of his relationship with Oh, one of the few things he still had left. This life he had envisioned kept getting less and less glamorous by the second.

I’m not saying I want him to give up on his dream of acting, but I do hope that everything that has happened is his much needed wake up call. That he finds more empathy for the people he judged for drifting from acting, for the people he pushed away for not trying hard enough. I hope he sees how selfish and ignorant his actions and his words have been over the past few years and that he takes this as a starting point for a more understanding and accepting outlook on not just his own life but the lives of those around him.

And I do hope he heals one day. Or, well, I will hope for that tomorrow. Tonight I’m still mad at him.

OH-AEW

Now on to Oh. As I said before, I don’t condone the invasion of Teh’s privacy or hitting him with the bouquet. But otherwise, I really am proud of Oh-Aew. Do I think he handled everything perfectly? No. In an ideal world, I would have liked him to confront Teh sooner so he could have given him the opportunity to be honest early on.

But given everything, I think Oh’s level of compassion and his willingness to try to understand are more than most people are willing to give in his shoes. I genuinely do respect how level-headed he went about it. I wish he had been better rewarded for his grace, and instead he got a boyfriend who lied and continued to go behind his back even after Oh had given him an undeserved second chance.

But what I am most proud of is how Oh-Aew handled breaking up with Teh. Telling Teh that he was hurt and asking him to have pity on him. Oh chose himself again, more permanently. In that moment, he understood that Teh’s apology did not warrant forgiveness and that he was allowed to stay hurt, to stay angry, to stay unwilling to take Teh back.

Oh was vulnerable and still stayed firm in his decision to respect himself anyway, to trust his feelings and prioritize his healing. Teh was there crying before him, and he still understood that he had no responsibility to fix Teh’s pain. That the pain Teh was feeling was pain he had inflicted on himself.

You can see in the way he turned back to look at Teh leave and then the way he sobbed afterwards that it took all of his strength to not give in moments earlier. How easy it would have been for him to take comfort in the familiarity of Teh’s embrace once again, to give him that second chance and hope for the best. I wouldn’t have blamed him if he did; it’s hard to give up someone who once made you feel safe. Who once felt like home.

But I am so proud of him for choosing himself anyway. For knowing that, however hard it was in that moment to let go, it would have been even harder to live every day sacrificing his mental and emotional security for a relationship he knew would never feel the same. For a man he could never fully trust again.

Oh-Aew has grown so much.

OH’S FRIENDS

Also, Oh has the cutest, sweetest friends in the world. This was my favorite scene in the entire episode. I’m so glad he found his group and that they love him so much.

The contrast between Teh and Oh-Aew throughout this season and especially in this episode has been really apparent as they’ve drifted apart. And I think this scene really highlighted that. Teh verbally acknowledged how he had no one to turn to anymore, how he’d ruined his relationships with everyone over time, meanwhile Oh was surrounded by people ready to love him and take care of him until he was better.

Oh’s honesty with himself and the people around him resulted in a community of friends supporting him as his authentic self, while Teh’s lies to himself and the people around him resulted in solitude.

It’s tragic for him, really.

EP 5?

Honestly, I have no idea what will happen with episode 5. At this point, I want Oh-Aew to find happiness away from Teh and for Teh to fix his insecurities on his own. I don’t want them together.

Maybe one day they’ll find each other again. I don’t know. But after this season’s storyline has unfolded, I think Oh deserves better. And I don’t think they make sense anymore.

AND BECAUSE IT NEEDS TO BE SAID

Oh-Aew dying his hair from red to black again? Yeah. He is Teh’s red no more.

[hetalia-has-a-secretary]

Omg Axis or Allies (your choice) react to their s/o crying when they find out their boyfriend is an immortal country because they love them so much but they can’t get over their dream of growing old and having grandkids with the person they love and they just don’t know if they can be with them anymore 🥺

Hey- hey stop stabbing my emotions (I say as I think about this daily ಥJಥ ) Bold of you to assume I can't turn this into fluff though, HAHA! Also, going to go with the Axis since it was first on the list! (And if I have to write this with Russia involved I'll cry. Y'all going to have to send a request to get me to do that!)

TW: Light mentions of sleeping around

Axis' S/O cries over being Mortal!

Germany:

His heart pretty much shattered.

Especially when he hears the reason his S/O is sobbing so hard.

They were right.

One day they will leave his side, and he sometimes forgets that. So he let his own tears fall.

He decided if this was truly their fate, he will let his S/O see him in his most vulnerable state.

He held them, not even bothering to console them. How could he? This was doomed to happen, and he has had it happen before, but those relationships didn't last long after that, but with his S/O? It felt so... Wrong.

It didn't feel right that he found the perfect fit, and to be yanked away... It devistated him.

He never loved someone this fully before? He didn't even realize till now how much he fought to keep them by his side.

As their life got shorter he did everything he could to love and cherish them. Refusing to let them pass anywhere but where they called home. Even if it wasn't with him.

In that moment they passed he felt numb, but that same feeling came back from years ago.

It still felt wrong.

Dreams plagued him, thousands of scenerios for years. Meeting them again, and reliving their life over, and over again.

At first it hurt, but then it was like they were still there... Maybe they were?

One day turned into years, even after learning of his S/O passing. The dreams never stopped, and neither did he. He tried shaking it off by going out to town, and wandered into a cafe. The chilling sensation he felt when he recognized the cafe, but didn't remember why. His body became panicked as the owner told him they just opened last week. Frantically he looked around, the scene unfolding before him, just like in his dreams. Then he slowly remembered the window seat. To his shock, sitting right there was the same person in his dreams. The one he called by his S/O's name. The one that, even in waking life, made his heart race and cheeks flare. He had to kiss them...

He walked over, and asked them if he could sit with them. Their face seemed to be in udder shock. Their mouth was left wordless and wide open. Their eyes wanting to run, but their body lurching forward, capturing his lips in a kiss. A kiss that felt like... Forever.

Pulling back they looked at each other, eyes the only familiar memory from a past life together. It turns out this stranger had dreams about him too.

Japan:

His knees buckled beneath him by his S/O's side. Trying to console them.

Regret filled him, thinking about how he should have known better to keep such a secret for such a long time. Least the worst being letting his S/O stay.

He didn't want to let them go. He wanted them to stay. Even when they first uttered "Hello" to each other, their absence made him feel, strange?

But he knows this story. If they chose to leave, they can leave. If they chose to stay, they will not suffer alone. And if they did nothing but fade in and out, he'd wait for them with open arms, and a warm bed.

But still. The sensation of isolation after they're long gone never left.

The dreams he would have of them made him harsh, and cold. He would never change.

This would be the first time he became insecure over his existence. Being a country was hard, and he had past lovers but this one. It was the final one. So he thought.

The dreams had one day just, stopped. It made his mood worse, and he had snapped at anyone who tried talking to him. Even he knew the only reason he stayed sane was seeing his S/O face behind closed eyes. So he ran to a hidden opening in a nearby forest. The same one he vowed his love for his S/O. He had hoped it would reignite the dreams, and maybe give him some peace. He was beating himself up for not thinking about it earlier.

But his heart shattered at the sight. Where the tree that protected that undying love was replaced with a small home. He had lost his S/O, and now it felt like he lost his S/O's remaining love as well.

He had turned away only to look back at the sound of his name being called. An almost electric shock going through his body. The person who called out to him had felt so familiar. It made him feel warm, and... Happy? But he chose to shove that feeling down, refusing to fall for humanities vices. Yet he still marched over to this stranger, but the closer he got the more hazy he felt. His world spun as he met eyes with them, and his mind filled the blanks, and he embraced them, tears falling. He was unsure if it was the summer heat, or the shock of his last resort being abolished. The only thing that lead to him knowing this was his Darling, was the choked up words he hadn't heard in a century, or three. "It's okay. You don't have to say it right now, I can wait forever for you..."

Italy:

He never felt so alone in his life.

He knew it was the end of the relationship, and he knew better than to stop them. Though he tried.

Eventually the bonds broke, and things got worse between them the longer his S/O bounced between loving him, and wanting to live a normal, human life.

Them leaving felt no different from their passing.

Many years went by, and it flew, but dragged at the same time. Woman after woman, and man after man he tried to rekindle that same passion he had with S/O. But to no avail.

It burned and tormented him. The only one who allowed him to take out his aggression was Germany. Yet even he couldn't give what had been taken...

Italy never remembered his dreams of his S/O. All he knew was the muscle memory of his happiness when they were around, and the tears that fell from the reminder and afterglow of those dreams.

Another person who caught his eye. How many has it been since his S/O passed? Enough that even France had been out to shame, apperantly. Italy just needed the pain to be numbed over, just one more time. It was his addiction, it was his only respite. He should have been wiser. And he wished he knew how Grandpa Rome managed his affairs, Because Feli certainly couldn't do the same.

His hand lingered over the stranger's shoulder, ready to tap, but their scent caught him off guard. His heart gave a painful flutter, and he had to turn and walk away. Hiding away in an alley, he let his eyes water over. The tears poured down like rain as the years of trying to fill a never ending void finally caught up to him. The shame and guilt coming in waves. He didn't want to replace them, he only wanted to be with them. The scent he escaped had found him, and he had looked up to see kind and gentle eyes of a stranger. Italy felt oddly at peace. Like all those years of sleeping around was forgiven due to this stranger.

They had followed him, but why? When he asked his body froze, heart racing. They saw him in almost every dream they had, even when they were little. Some of their friends and family thinking they'd gone insane, and it was passed off as a rare occurrence by professionals. Yet there he stood. A dream made reality. Italy couldn't comprehend what they meant, and knew this should have been a red flag, but between the scent and their glassy eyes, he felt compelled to hold them, and kiss them. So he did, and they didn't even pull away. Not until streams of tears fell, leaving them both with sorrowful smiles, and fond memories stitched back in place.

For those who are confused, I Headcannon that when a country finds their one and only true love (cliche I know) they never have to lose them. Either through reincarnation or some form of magic their S/O will find their way into the countries arms time and time again. Both having vivid dreams about each other. The countries getting glimpse of their S/O in their new form, and their S/O reliving past lives through theirs. Only when they cross paths again, and physically come in contact, the S/O will slowly piece back their life with the country. Though they say nothing lasts forever, it depends on how many lives they decide forever truly is.

[souichioneshots]

Adult!Souichi x Reader 【2 day fic; Day 2】 NSFW!!

Lol here's part 2

Ya'll said you like detail

well, here's a lot of detail

this is super ooc for sure, but whatever there's like barely any adult!souichi porn so take this shit and leave me alone

byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

【MUST-READ DAY 1 + Binzo FIC To UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!】

Souichi loudly sighed as he placed the hairdryer back on the counter. He was exhausted. What had started out as a good day turned to shit in a matter of minutes.

Closing his eyes, he recalled the events that had unfolded before him that afternoon.

After checking out of the hotel, you two still had another four hours to kill until the kimonos were ready for pickup. Although there wasn’t a lot to do in the little town you were in, there was a large home center that he had planned on going to soon. He needed to get some things for the haunt and some everyday items for his family. You claimed you’d never been to a home center before, so it should be fun.

At least, that’s what he initially thought.

He had left you alone for 1 minute to go get a cart. Seeing how heavily invested you were in reading the comic book he told you he liked as a kid, he figured that you wouldn’t notice. But he was dead wrong.

As he put the items he was holding into an empty cart, the lights of the store started to flicker. He heard people screaming and things being knocked over.

Leaving the cart, he rushed to where he had left you. But you weren’t there. Instead, your mask along with several broken mannequins took your place. There were drops of blood everywhere. You had been scratching yourself again. A nasty habit you had whenever you got anxious. Following the trail of blood and broken items, he finally found you. You were in the pet-item section of the store.

His eyes widened in shock as he saw you, floating ever so slightly off the floor. A group of Japanese horned beetles circled your floating body as you swayed back and forth, like a body that had been hung by its neck. All the other animals in the area, the rabbits, the birds, even the fish all laid dead on the floor surrounding you.

He was about to call out your name and try to calm you down, but then he saw your eyes.

They had gone completely black.

Blood dripped from your nose and to your lips as you smiled at him. A shiver traveled down his spine as you met his eyes.

¡¡¡∀ﻼ∀ﻼ∀ﻼ∀ﻼ∀ﻼ ¡¡ɘɿoʜʍ 'υoγ uɒc 'ɿɘʍob γɯ ʇυoʜʇᴉʍ ϱuᴉɘp quɒʇƨ ʇ,uɒC ¡γʇɿɘboɿb ɿᴉɘʜʇ ɘʌɘᴉɿʇɘɿ oʇ kcɒp ɘɯɒc γllɒuᴉt oʜʍ koo⅃ ˙llɘM llɘM llɘM

Souichi couldn’t understand a single word you were saying. His heart raced as he remembered what the man who sold you had said. If you were ever displeased, you could take the power of others away, and in extreme cases, their life force. From the looks of you and the dead animals around you, this seemed like an extreme case.

The lights above you flickered rapidly as you placed your feet on the ground and walked towards him.

He needed to do something fast. You were drawing too much attention to yourself. Drawing too much attention to him! He needed to run. If he ran fast enough, he might be able to reach his family and disappear just before you could get him.

Just as he was about to turn around and leave, tears started to run down your cheeks, making him stop. You put your hands out to reach for Souichi, but he backed away, afraid you were trying to trick him.

“I,ɯ ƨoɿɿγ˙˙˙ Ⴇou,ʇ˙˙˙⅃ɘɒʌɘ ɯɘ˙˙˙ I,ɯ˙˙˙Sorry…Please…” The whites in your eyes returned as tears endlessly streamed down your face.

The people who had been watching from afar made a commotion as you suddenly collapsed onto the ground. Blood seeped from your arms, legs, and nose as your eyes finally shut.

It took all the power Souichi could muster to make everyone in the store forget what had happened. He was able to pin everything on a couple of teenage pranksters, but he prayed that no one would ever look at the security footage from that day.

Seeing that it would not be the best idea to travel with the bloody body of an unconscious girl thrown over his shoulder. He rushed to the nearest hotel. Using his power to make you undetectable by the people around him, he brought you into the room you two were in now and allowed you to rest. However, you had awoken while he was showering.

You nearly scared him to death when you entered the shower fully clothed.

Your face was emotionless, eyes slightly puffy from crying too much, and dried blood was smeared all over your body. Seeing how your legs trembled from exhaustion he offered to help you wash up, something his older sister would usually do for you, but you refused, asking him to leave. Quickly finishing up, he left you alone.

He didn’t know how long it would be until you finished. But either way, he wasn’t exactly looking forward to it.

Walking over to the mini-fridge in the room, he took out a can of lemon-flavored Strong Zero and chugged it all down in one go. He held the still cold can up to his head as he tried to relax his mind.

He really didn’t think things through very well when he got you. He should have heeded that man’s warning. All of this just to get more powerful? There were dozens of other ways he could get the power he wanted. Ritual sacrifices, joining covens, deals with demons. But he just had to choose the ‘easy’ route.

If he didn’t do something soon, he might end up powerless or dead like your old masters.

Souichi let out a sound of surprise as he turned around to see that you had been standing behind him the entire time. Small puddles of water formed around you as water droplets dripped from your hair.

“Y-You’re done? Do you need help drying your hair?” He nervously asked.

He really hoped you couldn’t read minds. God knows he can’t take on anyone as powerful as you, especially after all he did today.

Keeping your eyes to the ground, you spoke in a small voice.

“Where did you go?...”

“Hmm? You told me to get out?” Souichi tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“No!” You gripped the hem of your pajama-yukata, trying to hold back your emotions. You sounded like you were on the verge of crying again.

“You left me alone…at the home center…You tricked me…” Your body trembled as you took deep-uneven breaths. “Why did you leave me…Did I do something wrong… I’m sorry if I did something to upset you… I just… Please… Tell me…”

Souichi’s eyes widened at your words. He couldn’t believe what you were saying.

The scene you made at the home center was all because of him. All because you thought he left you. Dumped you to fend for yourself in an environment you were completely unfamiliar with. He knew he could never truly understand how you felt, but he assumed that it must have felt worse than the time his grandmother left him alone with a family who doesn’t understand him or his abilities.

He felt horrible for actually thinking about leaving you back there.

“Y/N… I wasn’t trying to abandon you. I just went to get a cart to put the stuff in. I’m sorry…” You looked up at him with teary eyes as he explained what had truly happened.

Stepping forward, you wrapped your arms around his slim body.

“Promise you’ll never leave me again…” The sound of your voice was muffled a bit by his clothes.

“I Promise.” He put his pinkie out for you to wrap your own around.

Moving back a bit, you both looked at each other and chanting in unison.

「指きりげんまん　嘘ついたら針千本飲ます　指きった！」

As you let go of each other’s pinkies, a devilish smile grew across your face.

“You’re suddenly in a good mood.” He said, a little surprised by your sudden change in attitude.

“Fufufu. Of course, I am. After all, a promise between two witches is sacred.” Rushing to stand on top of the bed, you pointed and laughed at him. “Don’t blame me if you end up drinking a water bottle full of needles one day ~! Kakakaka!”

Souichi couldn’t help but laugh at how similar you sounded to him when he was younger. Even your laugh, although it suited you well, was forcefully done just so you could sound creepier. You were like a little clone of him.

As you stood taller than him, Souichi was now able to clearly see the scratch marks that traveled from your knees up into your yukata. They looked painful. Your arms weren’t looking so good either.

Going to a bag filled with supplies, he called for you to sit down. “We should heal those wounds before we go back home.”

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, you waited for the man to start the healing process. He was the only person you had ever met that was able to successfully do this.

“Where did you get this?” You asked as you examined the green bottle of gooey liquid labeled ‘100% Aloe Vera’.

“I went to the superstore while you were asleep.” Souichi replied as he kneeled in front of you and took your arm into his hands.

“Hmm…” Suddenly you gasped loudly, making Souichi jump a bit. “The kimonos!”

“Ah~ I got those too. I even went to eat sushi from that place we saw yesterday.”

“Ehh--!!” You exclaimed. “You’re lying!! I wanted to go too!”

“Well then maybe you shouldn’t have thrown a tantrum and blacked out at the home center.”

You huffed and looked away in annoyance as he continued to massage your left arm. The scars slowly faded away as he chanted and rubbed the skin.

“Geez…You should have just gone ahead and conquered Japan without me while you were out…” Souichi laughed as you mumbled under your breath.

“So…did you have fun?” You asked as he moved onto your right arm.

“Not really. The sushi was meh and those annoying old ladies kept asking where you were. They even tried to fit me for a kimono.”

“Did you get one?!” You excitedly asked. Souichi shook his head side to side, indicating that he did not.

“Aw…That’s a shame. I personally think you would look absolutely delicious in a kimono.” Souichi looked at you with a shocked expression, making you go into a panic.

“N-Not that kind of delicious!! I mean uh… Like …nnn…” You ran your hand through your hair as you tried to find the right word. “Handsome! You would look very handsome in a kimono…uuuu…” You brought your hand down to cover your face as Souichi laughed at your embarrassed expression. You’ve been saying a lot of weird things like that to him recently.

Finally finishing your arms, he moved down to your legs. Souichi’s heart suddenly started to race as you pulled your yukata up, allowing him properly to see the scratches he needed to heal on your legs.

Clearing his throat, he gave you the bottle. “I think you can do this part yourself.”

You looked up at the raven-haired man in confusion. “No, I can’t. I never learned how to do healing spells. If I did, do you think I would have been walking around with scratches and bite marks all over my body this whole time?” Souichi sighed at your statement. You were right.

“Fine… I can teach you how to do this if you want.” He said as he opened the bottle.

“Ok. Teach me.” You let out a sigh as Souichi poured the lotion on your legs. It stung at first, but that pain soon melted away.

Rubbing his hands over the markings, he explained the spell to you. You paid careful attention, repeating the chant right after him and watching as your skin healed before your very eyes.

Seeing that you still had a couple of scratches trailing to the back of your legs, he told you to flip over.

You immediately apologized when a small growl escaped you. Being put in a vulnerable position like this was not something you were used to.

As you finally calmed down, Souichi noticed your body slightly move on its own. Your body slid down a bit, trying to keep his fingers on the top half of your legs. His mouth started to feel dry when he saw that you weren’t wearing anything underneath your yukata.

Your legs closed ever so slightly as his hands moved dangerously close to your already slick pussy.

“I-It’s really important to heal all parts of the body…” He nervously explained as he gently rubbed his thumb against your pussy, clear fluid sticking to it as he pulled away.

Completely forgetting about the other scratches on your legs, Souichi focused himself on another part of your body.

“This spell helps with cuts, bruises, and even... muscle fatigue.”

“Fatigue...?” You repeated the word like you had no idea what it meant.

“This place seems to be pretty tight. You probably have a lot of built-up fatigue here…”

You tried to hold back your voice as he slid his index finger into you. Your legs trembled each time he pulled it back and almost out of you. Souichi could feel his member getting harder in his boxers as he continued to finger you. The wet-hot sensation of you wrapped around his finger was making his mind go fuzzy.

He wanted to go further.

Grabbing you by your waist, he flipped you back over. Your cheeks were red, and your chest was rising and falling at an uneven pace. Souichi licked his lips as he got back on his knees and brought his face closer to your pussy.

“You don’t always have to use your hands for this spell though…But…I’ll need to help you if you wanna try this method…”

You let out a shaky moan as he pressed his tongue against you. Souichi could taste the Aloe Vera he had rubbed on you as he pushed his tongue in between your folds.

His tongue was tingling, and his mind was slowly starting to forget how or why he even started doing this to you.

Bringing his hand down to his boxers, he freed his aching erection. Clear fluid dripped from the tip of his cock as he started to move his hand back and forth.

Jolts of pleasure surged through his body as he slipped his tongue inside you, rolling over your clit every time he pulled out. It was almost like you two were actually connected.

He can’t remember how many times he repeated this motion.

Your legs physically trembled as your breathing became more erratic. He could tell you were gonna cum soon. But he couldn’t hold himself back anymore.

Pushing himself off of you, Souichi spread your legs wide. He needed to cum inside you. He needed to make you his.

“Fuck…” Souichi pressed himself against your dripping entrance as he sped up his hands’ motions.

Why did you have to cover your face with your hands? He wanted to see your face when he came inside you.

“Ah~I’m cumming…” His body twitched downward as he pushed just the head of his cock in and poured his thick white seed into you.

A smile grew on his face as he looked down at the mess he had made of you. His seed seeped out of your pussy as he pulled himself out.

Moving to the empty space next to you, Souichi laid on his back. Your shoulders slightly touched as he moved even closer.

His heart was still racing from how amazing that felt. Even now his body felt like it was tingling.

Souichi closed his eyes as he tried to catch his breath.

Completely oblivious to the immense amount of power that was being transferred into him right now.